AVHATVOIDANIIT
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THE

LITURGICAL YEAR
ABBOT PROSPER GUERANGER, O.S.B.

PASCHAL TIME
BOOK I
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY

DOM LAURENCE SHEPHERD, O.S.B.

JUBILEE YEAR 2000
LIMITED EDITION

®

LORETO
LORETO PUBLICATIONS
P.O. Box 603
Fitzwilliam, NH 03447

Phone: (603) 239-6671
Fax: (603) 239-6127

LORETO PUBLICATIONS
The Liturgical Year 15 Volume Set

ISBN: 1-930278-03-9
Volume VII — Paschal Time Book I
ISBN: 1-930278-10-1
Printed in the Czech Republic by

Newton Design&Print Ltd (www.newtondp.co.uk)

PASCHAL

TIME

PREFACE

for,

ITH this volume we begin the season of Easter,
wherein are accomplished the mysteries prepared
and

looked

forward

to,

since

Advent.

Such

are

the liturgical riches of this portion of the Christian year,

that we have found it necessary to devote three volumes

to it.
The present volume is wholly taken up with Easter
Week.

A week

is indeed

a short

period;

but

such

a

week as this, with the importance of the events it brings

before us, and the grandeur of the mysteries it celebrates,

is, at least, equivalent to any other section of our Litur-

gical Year. We have abridged our explanations as
much as possible; and yet we have exceeded two-thirds

of one of our ordinary volumes.

Hence, it was out of

the question to add the remaining weeks; the more so,
as the saints’ feasts recommence on the Monday follow-

ing the Easter Octave, and their insertion would have
obliged us to have made our volume considerably more

bulky than even that of Passiontide. We have, therefore, been satisfied with giving the Mass and Office of the
Annunciation,

already

given

in our volume

for Lent,

but which are needed for the Monday after Low Sunday,

when Easter falls between March 22 and April 2, which is
frequently the case.

CONTENTS
PREFACE

PASCHAL

:

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PAGE

v

TIME

cuarran
1 The History of Paschal Time
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1
I The Mystery of Paschal Time .
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. 14
11 Practice during Paschal Time
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..
20
1V Morning and Night Prayers for Paschal Time
. 26
V On hearing Mass during Paschal Time
.
. 41
VI On Holy Communion during Paschal Time .
. 74
VII Of the Office of Vespers for Sundays and Feasts
during Paschal Time .
.
.8
VIII Of the Office of Compline for Suudays and Feasts
during Paschal Time .
.
..ot
EASTER SUNDAY

.

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.

The Offce of Matins .
Lands
&
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W
Mass
O
Afternoon .
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The Easter Vespers .
Evening .
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EasteR MoNDAY.
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Mass
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..
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Morning

Vespers

EasTER TUESDAY

Mass

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viii

CONTENTS

WEDNESDAY IN EASTER WEEK
Mass
o
o
Blessing of the Agnus Dei
THuURSDAY IN EAsTER
Mass
FRIDAY

WEEK

IN EASTER WEEK
Mass .
»
»

SATURDAY IN EASTER WEEK
Mass .
#
"
.
.
The Taking off of the White Garments

.

Quasnopo or Low SUNDAY

.

Mass

.

.

Vespers
.
THE ANNUNCIATION OF
First Vespers
Mass.
.
Second Vespers

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-

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THE EVER-BLESSED VIRGIN
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PASCHAL
CHAPTER
THE

HISTORY

TIME

THE

FIRST

OF PASCHAL

TIME

E give the name of Paschal Time to the period
between Easter Sunday and the Saturday following Whit Sunday. It is the most sacred portion of the
liturgical year, and the one towards which the whole
cycle converges. We shall easily understand how this
is, if we reflect upon the greatness of Easter, which is
called the feast of feasts, and the solemnity of solemnities, in the same manner, says St. Gregory,! as the most
sacred part of the Temple was called the Holy of holies ;
and the book of sacred scripture, wherein are described
the espousals between Christ and the Church, is called
the Canticle of Canticles. It is on this day that the
mission of the Word Incarnate attains the object
towards which it has hitherto been tending: man is
raised up from his fall and regains what he had lost by
Adam’s sin.
Christmas gave us a Man-God; three days have
scarcely passed since we witnessed his infinitely precious
Blood

shed

for our ransom;

but

now, on

the day

of

Easter, our Jesus is no longer the victim of death: He

is a conqueror,

and

proclaims

who

life,

destroys

that

death, the

undying

child of sin,

life which

he

has

purchased for us. The humiliation of his swathingbands, the sufferings of his agony and cross, these are

passed; all is now glory—glory for himself, and glory
also for us. On the day of Easter, God regains, by the

Resurrection of the Man-God, his creation such as he
* Homilia, xxil.
T

PASCHAL TIME

2

made it at the beginning; the only vestige now left
of death is sin, the likeness of which the Lamb of God
deigned to take upon himself. Neither is it Jesus alone
that returns to eternal life; the whole human race also
has risen to immortality together with our Jesus. ‘By
a man came death,” says the Apostle; ‘and by a Man
the Resurrection of the dead; and as in Adam

s0 also in Christ all shall be made alive.”
The

anniversary

of this Resurrection

is,

all die,

therefore,

the great day, the day of joy, the day par excellence;
the day to which the whole year looks forward in expectation, and on which its whole economy is formed.
But as it is the holiest of days—since it opens to us
the gate of Heaven, into which we shall enter because
we have risen together with Christ—the Church would
have us come to it well prepared by bodily mortification
and by compunction of heart. It was for this that she
instituted the fast of Lent, and that she bade us,
during

Septuagesima,

look forward

to the joy of her

Easter, and be filled with sentiments suitable to the
approach of so grand a solemnity. We obeyed; we
have gone through the period of our preparation; and
now the Easter sun has risen upon us !
But

it was

not enough

to solemnize

the great day

when Jesus, our Light, rose from the darkness of the
tomb: there was another anniversary which claimed our

grateful celebration. The Incarnate Word rose on the
first day of the week—that same day whereon, four
thousand years before, he, the uncreated Word of the
Father, had begun the work of creation, by calling
forth light, and separating it from darkness. The frst
day was thus ennobled by the creation of light. It
received a second consecration by the Resurrection of

Jesus; and from that time forward Sunday, and not
Saturday, was to be the Lord’s Day.
Yes, our Resur-

rection in Jesus, which took place on the Sunday, gave
this first day a pre-eminence above the others of the
week: the divine precept of the Sabbath was abrogated
* x Cor.xv a1, 32.

THE

HISTORY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

3

together with the other ordinances of the Mosaic Law,

and the Apostles instructed the faithful to keep holy
the first day of the week, which God had dignified with
that twofold glory, the creation and the regeneration
of the world.

Sunday,

then, being the day

of Jesus’

Resurrection, the Church chose that day, in preference
to every other, for its yearly commemoration.
The

Pasch of the Jews, in consequence of its being fixed on

the fourteenth of the moon of March (the anniversary
of the going out of Egypt), fell by turns on each day
of the week.

The Jewish Pasch was but a figure; ours

is the reality, and puts an end to the figure.

The Church,

therefore, broke this last tie with the Synagogue;

and

proclaimed her emancipation, by fixing the most solemn

of her feasts on a day which should never agree with
that on which the Jews keep their now unmeaning
Pasch. The Apostles decreed that the Christian Pasch
should never be celebrated on the fourteenth of the
moon of March, even were that day to be a Sunday;
but that it should be everywhere kept on the Sunday
following the day on which the obsolete calendar of the
Synagogue still marks it.
Nevertheless, out of consideration for the many Jews
who had received baptism, and who formed the nucleus

of the early Christian Church, it was resolved that the
law regarding the day for keeping the new Pasch

should be applied prudently and gradually.
Jerusalem
‘was soon to be destroyed by the Romans, according to

our Saviour’s prediction; and the new city, which was
to rise up from its ruins and receive the Christian colony,

would also have its Church, but a Church totally free
from the Jewish element, which God had so visibly
rejected.

Churches,

In

even

preaching . the

far beyond

Gospel

and

the limits of the

founding

Roman

Empire, the majority of the Apostles had not to
contend with Jewish customs; most of their converts
were from among the Gentiles. St Peter, who in
the Council of Jerusalem had proclaimed the cessation
of the Jewish Law. set up the standard of emancipation

PASCHAL TIME

4
in the city of Rome;

so that the Church, which through

him was made the Mother and Mistress of all Churches,

never had any other discipline regarding the observance
of Easter than that laid down by the Apostles, namely,
that it should be kept on a Sunday.
There was, however, one province of the Church
which for a long time stood out against the universal

practice: it was Asia Minor.

The Apostle St John,

who lived for many years at Ephesus—where indeed
he died—had thought it prudent to tolerate, in those
parts, the Jewish custom of celebrating the Pasch; for
many of the converts had been members of the Synagogue. But the Gentiles themselves, who, later on,
formed the mass of the faithful, were strenuous upholders of this custom, which dated from the very
foundation of the Church of Asia Minor. In the course
of time, however, this anomaly became a source of
scandal: it savoured of Judaism, and it prevented unity
of religious observance, which is always desirable, but
particularly so in what regards Lent and Easter.
Pope St Victor, who governed the Church from the
year 193, endeavoured to put a stop to this abuse; he
thought the time had come for establishing unity in
so essential a point of Christian worship. Already,
that is in the year 160, under Pope St Anicetus, the
Apostolic See had sought, by friendly negotiations, to

induce the Churches of Asia Minor to conform to the
universal practice; but it was difficult to triumph over

a prejudice, which rested on a tradition held sacred in
that country.
St Victor, however, resolved to make
another attempt. He would put before them the
unanimous agreement which reigned throughout the
rest of the Church.
Accordingly, he gave orders that
councils should be convened in the several countries
where the Gospel had been preached, and that the

question of Easter should be examined. Everywhere
there was perfect uniformity of practice; and the

historian Eusebius, who lived a hundred and fifty years

later,

assures

us

that

the people of his day used to

THE HISTORY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

5

quote the decisions of the Councils of Rome, of Gaul,
of Achaia, of Pontus, of Palestine, and of Osrhoene in
Mesopotamia. The Council of Ephesus, at which
Polycrates, the bishop of that city, presided, was the
only one that opposed the Pontiff, and disregarded the
practice of the universal Church.
Deeming it unwise to give further toleration to the
opposition, Victor separated from communion with the
Holy See the refractory Churches of Asia Minor. This
severe penalty, which was not inflicted until Rome
had exhausted every other means of removing the
evil, excited the commiseration of several bishops.
St Irenzus, who was then governing the see of Lyons,
pleaded for these Churches, which, so it seemed to him,

had sinned only through a want of light ; and he obtained

from the Pope the revocation of a measure which seemed
too severe. This indulgence produced the desired effect.
In the following century St Anatolius, bishop of
Laodicea, in his book on the Pasch, written in 276,
tells us that the Churches of Asia Minor had then, for
some time past, conformed to the Roman practice.
About the same time, and by a strange coincidence,
the Churches of Syria, Cilicia, and Mesopotamia gave
scandal by again leaving the Christian and Apostolic
observance of Easter, and returning to the Jewish rite
of the fourteenth of the March moon. This schism in
the Liturgy grieved the Church; and one of the points
to which the Council of Nicea directed its first attention
was the promulgation of the universal obligation to
celebrate Easter on the Sunday. The decree was
unanimously passed, and the Fathers of the Council
ordained that ‘all controversy being laid aside, the
brethren in the East should solemnize the Pasch on
the same day as the Romans, the Alexandrians, and the

rest of the faithful.” So important seemed this question, inasmuch as it affected the very essence of the
Christian Liturgy, that St Athanasius, assigning the

reasons which had led to the calling of the Council of
* Spicilegium Solesmense, t. iv, p. 341

6

PASCHAL

TIME

Nicza, mentions these two: the condemnation of the
Arian heresy, and the establishment of uniformity in the
observance of Easter.!
The bishop of Alexandria was

commissioned by the

Council to see to the drawing up of astronomical tables,
whereby the precise day of Easter might be fixed for
each future year. The reason of this choice was that
the astronomers of Alexandria were looked upon as the
most exact in their calculations. These tables were to
be sent to the Pope, and he would address letters to
the several Churches, instructing them as to the uniform

celebration of the great festival of Christendom. Thus
was the unity of the Church made manifest by the unity
of the holy Liturgy; and the Apostolic See, which is the
foundation

second.

of the first, was likewise

But,

the source of the

even previous to the Council of Nicza,

the Roman Pontiff had addressed to all the Churches,
every year, a Paschal Encyclical, instructing them as
to the day on which the solemnity of the Resurrection
was to be kept.
This we learn from the synodical
Letter of the Fathers of the great Council held at Arles
in 314.

The Letter is addressed to Pope

St Sylvester,

and contains the following passage: ‘In the first
place, we beg that the observance of the Pasch of
the Lord may be uniform, both as to time and day,
in the whole world, and that You would, according
to the

custom,

matter.”?
This custom,

address

Letters

however,

was

to all concerning

not

kept

length of time after the Council of Nicza.
of precision in astronomical calculations

up

this

for any

The want
occasioned

confusion in the method of fixing the day of Easter.
It is true, this great festival was always kept on a
Sunday; nor did any Church think of celebrating it on
the

same

day

as

the

Jews;

but,

since

there

was

no

uniform understanding as to the exact time of the
vernal equinox, it happened some years, that the feast
3 Epist.
ad
Afros episcopos.
o Bl
e

THE HISTORY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

7

of Easter was not kept, in all places, on the same day.
By

degrees,

there

crept

in a deviation

from

the rule

laid down by the Council, of taking March 21 as
the day of the equinox. A reform in the Calendar was
needed, and no one seemed competent to undertake
it. Cycles were drawn up contradictory to one another;
Rome and Alexandria had each its own system of
calculation; so that, some years, Easter was not kept
with that perfect uniformity for which the Nicene
Fathers had so strenuously laboured: and yet this
variation was not the result of anything like partyspirit.
The West followed Rome. The Churches of Ireland
and Scotland, which had been misled by faulty cycles,
were at length brought into uniformity. Finally,
smence was sufficiently advanced in the sixteenth cen-

ry for Pope Gregory XIII to undertake a reform of
the Calendar. The equinox had to be restored to
March 21, as the Council of Nicza had prescribed.
The Pope effected this by publishing a Bull, dated

February 24, 1581, in which he ordered that ten days
of the following year, namely from October 4 to October 15, should be suppressed. He thus restored the
work of Julius Cesar, who had, in his day, turned his
attention to the rectification of the year. Easter was
the great object of the reform, or, as it is called, the
New Style, achieved by Gregory XIII. The principles
and

regulations

of

the

Nicene

Council

were

again

brought to bear on this the capital question of the
liturgical year; and the Roman Pontiff thus gave to
the whole world the intimation of Easter, not for one

year only, but for centuries. Heretical nations were
forced to acknowledge the divine power of the Church
in this solemn act, which interested both religion and

society. They protested against the Calendar, as they
had protested against the Rule of Faith. England and
the Lutheran States of Germany preferred following,
for many years, a Calendar which was evidently at
fault, rather than accept the New Style, which they

PASCHAL

8

TIME

acknowledged to be indispensable, because it was the

work of a Pope !
All this shows us how

important

it was

to fix the

precise day of Easter; and God has several times shown

by miracles that the date of so sacred a feast was not

a matter of indifference. During the ages when the
confusion of the cycles and the want of correct astronomical computations occasioned great uncertainty as
to the vernal equinox, miraculous events more than
once supplied the deficiencies of science and authority.

In a letter to St Leo the Great, in the year 444,
Paschasinus, bishop of Lilybza? in Sicily, relates that
under the Pontificate of St Zosimus—Honorius being
consul for the eleventh, and Constantius for the second
time—the real day of Easter was miraculously revealed
to the people of one of the churches there.' In the

midst of a mountainous and thickly wooded district of
the island was a village called Meltinas. Its church
was of the poorest, but it was dear to God. Every year,
on the night preceding Easter Sunday, as the priest

went to the baptistery to bless the font, it was found

to be miraculously filled with water, for there were no

human means wherewith it could be supplied. As soon
as baptism was administered, the water disappeared of

itself, and left the font perfectly dry.

mentioned,

In the year just

the people, misled by a wrong

calculation,

assembled for the ceremonies of Easter Eve. The
Prophecies having been read, the priest and his flock
repaired to the baptistery—but the font was empty.
They waited, expecting the miraculous flowing of the
water, wherewith the catechumens were to receive the
grace of regeneration: but they waited in vain, and no
baptism was administered. On the following April 22
the font was found to be filled to the brim, and thereby
the people understood that that was the true Easter

for that year.®

Cassiodorus, writing in the name of king Athalaric
* Great Britain adopted the New Styls, by Act of Parliament, in the year 1752.—
Ta
% The modern Marsala.
%S Leonis, Opera, Epist. iil

THE

HISTORY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

9

to a certain Severus, relates a similar miracle, which
happened every year on Easter Eve, in Lucania, near the
small island of Leucothea, at a place called Marcilianum.

There was a large fountain there, whose water was so
clear that the air itself was not more transparent.

It

was used as the font for the administration of baptism

on Easter Night.
As soon as the priest, standing under
the rock wherewith nature had canopied the fountain,

began the prayers of the blessing, the water, as though
taking part in the transports of the Easter joy, arose in
the font; so that, if previously it was to the level of
the fifth step, it was seen to rise up to the seventh,
impatient, as it were, to effect those wonders of grace

whereof it was the chosen instrument. God would show
by this, that even inanimate creatures can share, when
he so wills it, in the holy gladness of the greatest of

all days.!

St Gregory of Tours tells us of a font, which existed

even then, in a church

of Andalusia, in a place called

Osen, whereby God miraculously certified to his people

the true day of Easter. On the Maundy Thursday
of each year, the bishop, accompanied by the faithful,
repaired to this church.

The bed of the font was built

in the form of a cross, and was paved with mosaics.
It was carefully examined, to see that it was perfectly
dry; and after several prayers had been recited, every-

one left the church, and the bishop sealed the door with
his seal. On Holy Saturday the pontiff returned,

accompanied

by his flock; the seal was examined,

and

the door was opened. The font was found to be filled,
even above the level of the floor, and yet the water did
not overflow. The bishop pronounced the exorcisms
over the miraculous water, and poured the chrism into
it. The catechumens were then baptized; and as soon
as the sacrament had been administered the water
immediately disappeared, and no one could tell what
became of it.* "Similar miracles were witnessed in
* Cassiodorus, Variarum, lib. vil, epist. xxxiil.
* De Gloria Martyrum, lib. i cap.

PASCHAL

10

TIME

several churches in the East. John Moschus, a writer
in the seventh century, speaks of a baptismal font in
Lycia, which was thus filled every Easter Eve; but the

water

remained

in the

font

during

the

whole

fifty

days, and suddenly disappeared after the festival of
Pentecost.
We alluded, in our History of Passiontide, to the
decrees passed by the Christian emperors, which
forbade all law proceedings during the fortnight of
Easter, that is from Palm Sunday to the octave day
of the Resurrection.
St Augustine, in a sermon he
preached on this octave, exhorts the faithful to extend
to the whole year this suspension of lawsuits, disputes,
and enmities, which the civil law interdicted during
these fifteen days.
The Church imposes upon all her children the obligation of receiving holy Communion at Easter.
This
precept is based upon the words of our Redeemer, who
left it to his Church to determine the time of the year

when Christians should receive the blessed Sacrament.
In

the early

ages Communion

was

frequent,

and,

in

some places, even daily. By degrees the fervour of
the faithful grew cold towards this august mystery, as
we gather from a decree of the Council of Agatha (Agde),

held in 506, where it is defined that those of the laity

who shall not approach Communion at Christmas,
Easter, and Pentecost, are to be considered as having

ceased to be Catholics.? This
Agatha was accepted as the
Western Church. We find it
lations drawn up by Egbert,
also in the third Council of
however,

Communion

decree of the Council of
law of almost the entire
quoted among the reguArchbishop of York, as
Tours. In many places,

was obligatory for the Sundays

of Lent, and for the last three days of Holy Week, independently of that which was to be made on the Easter
festival.
It was in the year 1215, in the fourth General Council
X Pratum spirituale, cap. cexv.
* Concil. Agath. Canon xvili.

THE
of Lateran,

HISTORY
that

the

OF PASCHAL

Church,

seeing

TIME

11

the ever-growing

indifference of her children, decreed with regret that
Christians should be strictly bound to Communion only

once in the year, and that that Communion of obligation
should be made at Easter. In order to show the faithful
that this is the uttermost limit of her condescension to
lukewarmness, she declares, in the same council, that
he that shall presume to break this law may be forbidden
to enter a church during life, and be deprived of Christian
burial after death, as he would be if he had, of his own
accord, separated himself from the exterior link of
Catholic unity.! These regulations of a General Council
show how important is the duty of the Easter Communion;

but, at the same time, they make us shudder

at the thought of the millions, throughout

the Catholic

world, who brave each year the threats of the Church,

by refusing to comply with a duty, which would both

bring life to their souls, and serve as a profession of their
faith. And when we again reflect upon how many even

of those who make their Easter Communion have paid

no more attention to the Lenten penance than if there

were no such obligation in existence, we cannot help

feeling sad, and we wonder within ourselves how long
God will bear with such infringements of the Christian

Law.
The fifty days between Easter and Pentecost have
ever been considered by the Church as most holy. The
first week, which is more expressly devoted to celebrating
our Lord’s Resurrection, is kept as one continued feast;
but the remainder of the fifty cays is also marked with
special honours. To say nothing of the joy, which is
the characteristic of this period of the year, and of
which the Alleluia is the expression—Christian tradi-

tion has assigned to Eastertide two practices, which
* Two centuries after this, Pope Eugenius 1V, in the Constitution Digna Fide,
iven in the year 1440, allowed this annual Communion to be made on any day
tween Palm Sunday and Low Sunday inclusively. This remains the law of the
Cliurch,but individual
bishops may now extend the period from the Fourth Sunday
in Lent until Trinity Sunday inclusively, and in England they may still use the
former permission granted by Holy See for the further extension from Ash
Wednesday to Low Suoday inclusively.

PASCHAL TIME
12
distinguish it from every other season.

The

first is,

that fasting is not permitted during the entire interval:
it is an extension of the ancient precept of never fasting

on a Sunday, and the whole of Eastertide is considered
as one long Sunday.
This practice, which would seem
to have come down

from the time of the Apostles, was

accepted by the Religious Rules of both East and West,

even by the severest. The second consists in not
kneeling at the Divine Office, from Easter to Pentecost.
The

Eastern

Churches

have

ages
more
since
time.
this

by the Western Churches also; but now it is little
than a remnant. The Latin Church has long
admitted genuflexions in the Mass during Easter
The few vestiges of the ancient discipline in
regard which still exist are not noticed by the

practice, even to this day.

faithfully

kept

up

the

It was observed for many

faithful, inasmuch as they seldom assist at the Canonical

Hours.

Eastertide, then, is like one continued feast. This
was remarked by Tertullian in the third century. He
is reproaching those Christians who regretted having

renounced, by their baptism, the festivities of the pagan
year, and thus addresses them: ‘If you love feasts,
you will find plenty among us Christians; not merely
feasts that last only for a day, but such as continue for
several days together. The pagans keep each of their
feasts once in the year; but you have to keep each of
yours many times over, for you have the eight days

of its celebration. Put all the feasts of the Gentiles
together, and they do not amount to our fifty days
of

Pentecost.””

subject, says:

St

Ambrose,

speaking

on

the same

‘If the Jews are not satisfied with the

Sabbath of each week, but keep also one which lasts
& whole month, and another which lasts a whole year;—
how much more ought not we to honour our Lord’s

Resurrection ? Hence our ancestors have taught us to
celebrate the fifty days of Pentecost as a continuation
of Easter. They are seven weeks, and the feast of
* De Ldololatria, cap. xiv.

THE

HISTORY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

13

Pentecost commences the eighth. . .. During these
fifty days the Church observes no fast, nor does
she on any Sunday, for it is the day on which our
Lord rose: and all these fifty days are like so many
Sundays.”
* In Lucam, lib. viii cap. xxv.

TIME

PASCHAL

4

CHAPTER
THE

MYSTERY

F all the
tide is by
even say that
of the sacred

THE

SECOND

OF PASCHAL

TIME

seasons of the liturgical year Easterfar the richest in mystery. We might
Easter is the summit of the Mystery
Liturgy. The Christian who is happy

enough to enter, with his whole mind and heart, into
the knowledge and love of the Paschal Mystery, has
reached the very centre of the supernatural life. Hence
it is that the Church uses every effort in order to effect
this: what she has hitherto done was all intended as a
preparation for Easter. The holy longings of Advent,
the sweet joys of Christmas, the severe truths of Septuagesima, the contrition and penance of Lent, the heartrending sight of the Passion—all were given us as
preliminaries, as paths, to the sublime and- glorious
Pasch ‘which is now ours.
And

that

importance

we

might

of this

Christian Easter

be

convinced

solemnity,

God

of the

willed

supreme

that

the

and Pentecost should be prepared by

those of the Jewish Law-—a thousand five hundred
years of typical beauty prefigured the reality: and that
reality is ours !
During these days, then, we have brought before us
the two great manifestations of God’s goodness towards

mankind—the Pasch of Israel, and the Christian Pasch;
the Pentecost of Sinai, and the Pentecost of the Church.

‘We shall have occasion to show how the ancient figures

were fulfilled in the realities of the new Easter and

Pentecost, and how the twilight of the Mosaic Law
made way for the full daylight of the Gospel; but we
cannot resist the feeling of holy reverence, at the bare

THE MYSTERY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

15

thought that the solemnities we have now to celebrate
are more than three thousand years old, and that they
are to be renewed every year from this till the voice of
the angel shall be heard proclaiming: * Time shall be no

more!" The gates of eternity will then be thrown open.
Eternity in heaven is the true Pasch: hence, our
Pasch here on earth is the feast of feasts, the solemnity
of solemnities.

victim

of that

The

human

sentence,

race was dead;

whereby

it was

it was

the

condemned

to lie mere dust in the tomb; the gates of life were shut

against it. But see! the Son of God rises from his
grave and takes possession of eternal life. Nor is he
the only one that is to die no more, for, as the Apostle

teaches us, ‘He is the first-born from the dead.”? The
Church would, therefore, have us consider ourselves as
having already risen with our Jesus, and as having
already

taken

possession

of

eternal

life.

The

holy

Fathers bid us look on these fifty days of Easter as the
image of our eternal happiness. They are days devoted
exclusively to joy; every sort of sadness is forbidden;
and the Church cannot speak to her divine Spouse
without joining to her words that glorious cry of heaven,
the Alleluia, wherewith, as the holy Liturgy says,® the
streets and squares of the heavenly Jerusalem resound

without ceasing. We have been forbidden the use of
this joyous word during the past nine weeks; it behoved
us to die with Christ—but now that we have risen
together with him from the tomb, and that we are
resolved to die no more that death which kills the soul
and caused our Redeemer to die on the cross, we have
a right to our Alleluia.
The providence of God, who has established harmony
between the visible world and the supematural work
of grace, willed that the Resurrection of our Lord should
take place at that particular season of the year when
even Nature herself seems to rise from the grave. The
meadows give forth their verdure, the trees resume their
foliage, the birds fill the air with their songs, and the
+ Apre.x6.
2 Coloss.ixs.
* Ponsificale Rom. In Dedicat. Eccles.

16

PASCHAL TIME

sun, the type of our triumphant Jesus, pours out his

floods of light on our earth made new by lovely spring.
At Christmas

the

sun

had little power,

and his stay

with us was short; it harmonized with the humble birth

of our Emmanuel, who came among us in the midst of

mght and shrouded in swaddling clothes; but now he
is “as a giant that runs his way, and there is no one
that can hide himself from his heat.
Speaking, in
the Canticle, to the faithful soul, and inviting her to
take her part in this new life which he is now imparting

to every creature, our Lord himself says: ‘ Arise, my

dove, and come !

and gone.

voice

Winter is now past, the rain is over

The flowers have appeared in our land.

of the

turtle

forth her green figs.
sweet smell.

is heard.

The

fig-tree hath

put

The vines, in flower, yield their

Arise thou, and come !

In the preceding

The

chapter

we

explained

why

our

Saviour chose the Sunday for his Resurrection, whereby
he conquered death and proclaimed life to the world.
It was on this favoured day of the week

four thousand

years previously, created the light; by

selecting it now for the commencement

which

that he had,

he graciously

imparts

to man,

of the new life

he would

show

us that Easter is the renewal of the entire creation.
Not only is the anniversary of his glorious Resurrection
to be, henceforward,

the greatest

of

days,

but

every

Sunday throughout the year is to be a sort of Easter,

a holy

and

command,

sacred day.

The

Synagogue,

kept holy the Saturday or the

by God’s

Sabbath in

honour of God’s resting after the six days of the creation;
but the Church,

the Spouse, is commanded

to honour

the work of her Lord. She allows the Saturday to
pass—it is the day on which her Jesus rested in the
sepulchre: but, now that she is illumined with the
brightness

of

the

Resurrection,

she

devates

to

the

contemplation of his work the first day of the week; it
is the day of light, for on it he called forth material
light (which was the first manifestation of life upon
* Ps, xviii 6, 7.
* Cant. ii 10, 13.

THE
chaos),

MYSTERY

and on the same,

OF PASCHAL

TIME

19

he that is the ‘ Brightness

of

the Father,” and ‘ the Light of the world,’? rose from
the darkness of the tomb.
Let, then, the week with its Sabbath pass by; what

we Christians want is the eighth day, the day that is
beyond the measure of time, the day of eternity, the
day whose light is not intermittent or partial, but endless and unlimited. Thus speak the holy Fathers,
when explaining the substitution of the Sunday for the
Saturday. It was, indeed, right that man should keep,
as the day of his weekly and spiritual repose, that on

which the Creator of the visible world had taken his
divine rest; but it was a commemoration of the material

creation only.

world

The Eternal Word comes down

that he has created;

he comes with

in the

the rays of

his divinity clouded beneath the humble veil of our

Hesh;

he comes to fulfil the figures of the first Covenant.
Before abrogating the Sabbath, he would observe it
as he did every tittle of the Law; he would spend it as

the day of rest, after the work of his Passion, in the
silence of the sepulchre: but, early on the eighth day,
he rises to life, and the life is one of glory. *Let us,”
says the learned and pious Abbot Rupert, ‘leave the
Jews to enjoy the ancient Sabbath, which is a memorial
of the visible creation. They know not how to love or
desire or merit aught but earthly things. . . . They
would not recognize this world’s creator as their king,
because he said: “ Blessed are the poor !’ and “ Woe
to the rich!” But our Sabbath has been transferred
from the seventh to the eighth day, and the eighth is
the first. And rightly was the seventh changed into
the eighth, because we Christians put our joy in a
better work than the creation of the world. . . . Let
the lovers of the world keep a Sabbath for its creation:

but our joy is in the salvation of the world, for our life,
yea and our rest, is hidden with Christ in God.”
The mystery of the seventh followed by an eighth
day, as the holy one, is again brought before us by the
?StJobnviil1z.
THeb.ig.
* De Dicinis Oficis,Ib. vil cap. xix,

PASCHAL

18

TIME

number of weeks which form Eastertide. These weeks
are seven; they form a week of weeks, and their morrow
is again a Sunday, the glorious feast of Pentecost.
These mysterious numbers—which God himself fixed
when he instituted the first Pentecost after the first
Pasch—were adopted by the Apostles when they
regulated the Christian Easter, as we learn from St Hilary
of Poitiers, St Isidore, Amalarius, Rabanus Maurus,
and from all the ancient interpreters of the mysteries
of the holy Liturgy. °If we multiply seven by seven,’
says St Hilary, ‘we shall find that this holy season is
truly the Sabbath of sabbaths; but what completes it,
and raises it to the plenitude of the Gospel, is the eighth
day

which

follows,

eighth and

first both

together

in

itself. The Apostles have given so sacred an institution
to these seven weeks that, during them, no one should
kneel, or mar by fasting the spiritual joy of this long
feast. The same institution has been extended to each
Sunday; for this day which follows the Saturday has
become, by the application of the progress of the Gospel,
the completion of the Saturday, and the day of feast

and joy.

Thus, then, the whole season of Easter is marked
with the mystery expressed by each Sunday of the year.
Sunday is to us the great day of our week, because
beautified with the splendour of our Lord’s Resurrection,
of which the creation of material light was but a type.
We have already said that this institution was pre-

figured in the Old Law, although the Jewish people

were not in any way aware of it. Their Pentecost fell
on the fiftieth day after the Pasch; it was the morrow
of the seven weeks. Another figure of our Eastertide
was the year of Jubilee, which God bade Moses prescribe
to his people. Each fiftieth year the houses and lands
that had been alienated during the preceding forty-nine
returned to their original owners; and those Israelites
who had been compelled by poverty to sell themselves
as slaves recovered their liberty. This year, which was
2 Prologus in Psalmos,

THE

MYSTERY

OF PASCHAL

TIME

19

properly called the sabbatical year, was the sequel of
the preceding seven weeks of years, and was thus the

image of our eighth day, whereon the Son of Mary, by his
Resurrection, redeemed us from the slavery of the tomb,
and restored us to the inheritance of our immortality.
The rites peculiar to Eastertide, in the present discipline of the Church, are two: the unceasing repetition
of the Alleluia, of which we have already spoken, and
the colour of the vestments used for its two great
solemnities, white for the first and red for the second.
White is appropriate to the Resurrection: it is the
mystery of eternal light, which knows neither spot nor
shadow; it is the mystery that produces in a faithful
soul the sentiment of purity and joy. Pentecost, which
gives

us

the

Holy

Spirit,

the

‘consuming

Fire,

is

symbolized by the red vestments, which express the
mystery of the divine Paraclete coming down in the
form of fiery tongues upon them that were assembled in
the Cenacle. With regard to the ancient usage of not
kneeling during Paschal Time, we have already said that
there is a mere vestige of it now left in the Latin Liturgy.
The feasts of the saints, which were interrupted
during Holy Week, are likewise excluded from the first
eight days

of

Eastertide;

but

when

these

are ended,

we shall have them in rich abundance, as a bright con-

stellation of stars round the divine Sun of Justice, our
Jesus. They will accompany us in our celebration of
his admirable Ascension; but such is the grandeur of
the mystery of Pentecost, that from the eve of that day
they will be again interrupted until the expiration of
Paschal Time.
The rites of the primitive Church with reference to
the Neophytes, who were regenerated by baptism on
the night of Easter, are extremely interesting and

instructive.

But as they are peculiar to the two octaves

of Easter and Pentecost, we will explain them when they
are brought before us by the Liturgy of those days.
* Heb. xii 29.

PASCHAL

20

CHAPTER
PRACTICE
HE

TIME

THE THIRD

DURING PASCHAL

TIME

practice for this holy season mainly consists

in the spiritual joy which it should produce in
every soul that is risen with Jesus. This joy is a fore-

taste of eternal happiness, and the Christian ought to
consider it a duty to keep it up within him, by ardently

seeking after that life which is in our divine Head, and
by carefully shunning sin which causes death. During
the last nine weeks we have mourned for our sins and
done penance for them; we have followed Jesus to
Calvary; but now, our holy Mother the Church is urgent
in bidding us rejoice. She herself has laid aside all
sorrow; the voice of her weeping is changed into the song
of a delighted Spouse.

In order that she might impart this joy to all her
children, she has taken their weakness into account.
After reminding them of the necessity of expiation, she
gave them forty days wherein to do penance; and then,
removing the restraint of Lenten mortification, she
brings us to Easter as to a land where there is nothing
but gladness, light, life, joy, calm, and the sweet hope
of immortality. Thus does she produce, in those of
her children who have no elevation of soul, sentiments
in harmony with the great feast, such as the most perfect
feel;

and

by

this means

all, both

fervent

and

tepid,

unite their voices in one same hymn of praise to our
risen Jesus.

The

great liturgist of the twelfth century,

Rupert,

Abbot of Deutz, thus speaks of the pious artifice used
by the Church to infuse the spirit of Easter into all:
‘ There are certain carnal minds that seem unable to

21
PRACTICE DURING PASCHAL TIME
open their eyes to spiritual things, unless roused by
some unusual excitement; and for this reason the
Church makes use of such means. Thus, the Lenten
fast, which we offer up to God as our yearly tithe, goes
on till the most sacred night of Easter; then follow
fifty days without so much as one single fast. Hence
it happens, that while the body is being mortified, and
is to continue to be so till Easter Night, that holy night
is eagerly looked forward to even by the carnal-minded;
they long for it to come; and, meanwhile, they carefully
count each of the forty days, as a wearied traveller does
the miles. Thus, the sacred solemnity is sweet to all,
and dear to all, and desired by all, as light is to them
that walk in darkness, as a fount of living water is to
them that thirst, and as “ a tent which the Lord hath
pitched " for wearied wayfarers.”
What a happy time was that when, as St Bernard
expresses it, there was not one in the whole Christian
army that neglected his Easter duty, and when all, both
just and sinners, walked together in the path of the
Lenten observances! Alas! those days are gone, and
Easter has not the same effect on the people of our
generation ! The reason is that a love of ease and a
false conscience lead so many Christians to treat the
law of Lent with as much indifference as if there were
no such law existing. Hence, Easter comes upon them
as a feast—it may be as a great feast—but that is all;
they experience little of that thrilling joy which fills
the heart of the Church during this season, and which
she evinces in everything she does. And if this be their
case even on the glorious day itself, how can it be
expected that they should keep up, for the whole fifty,
the spirit of gladness, which is the very essence of
Easter ? They have not observed the fast, or the
abstinence, of Lent: the mitigated form in which the
Church now presents them to her children, in consideration of their weakness, was too severe for them ! They
sought, or they took, a total dispensation from this law
1 D¢ Divinis Offciis, lib, vi, cap. xxvil.:

PASCHAL

22

TIME

of Lenten mortification, and without regret or remorse.
The Alleluia returns, and it finds no response in their
souls: how could it ? Penance has not done its work

of purification; it has not spiritualized them; how, then,
could they follow their risen Jesus, whose life is henceforth more of heaven than of earth ?
But these reflections are too sad for such a season
as this: let us beseech our risen Jesus to enlighten these
souls with the rays of his victory over the world and the
flesh, and to raise them up to himself. No, nothing
must now distract us from joy. ‘Can the children of
the Bridegroom mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is
with them ?"* Jesus is to be with us for forty days;
he is to suffer no more, and die no more;

be in keeping

let our feelings

with his now endless glory and

bliss.

True, he is to leave us, he is to ascend to the right hand

of his Father; but he will not leave us orphans; he will

send us the divine Comforter, who will abide with us
for ever.? These sweet and consoling words must be

our Easter text: ‘The children of the Bridegroom
cannot mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them.”
They are the key to the whole Liturgy of this holy
season.
We must have them ever before us, and we
shall find by experience that the joy of Easter is as
salutary as the contrition and penance of Lent.

Jesus

on the cross, and Jesus in the Resurrection, it is ever
the same Jesus; but what he wants from us now is that

we should keep near him, in company with his blessed
Mother, his disciples, and Magdalen, who are in ecstasies
of delight at his triumph, and have forgotten the sad

days of his Passion.

But this Easter of ours will have an end; the bright

vision of our risen Jesus will pass away; and all that

will be left to us is the recollection of his ineffable glory,
and of the wonderful familiarity wherewith he treated
us. What shall we do, when he who was our very life
and light leaves us and ascends to heaven?
Be of
good heart, Christians! you must look forward to
* St Matth. ix 15,
* St Joba xiv 16-18.

PRACTICE

DURING

PASCHAL

TIME

23

another Easter. Each year will give you a repetition
of what you now enjoy. Easter will follow Easter, and
bring you at last to that Easter in heaven which is
never to have an end, and of which these happy ones
of earth are a mere foretaste. Nor is this all. Listen
to the Church. I one of her prayers she reveals to us
the great secret, how
even

we may perpetuate

here in our banishment—‘Grant

O God,

that

they may

our Easters

to thy servants,

keep up, by their manner

of

living, the Mystery they have received by believing!*
So, then, the Mystery of Easter is to be ever visible on
this earth; our risen Jesus ascends to heaven, but he
leaves upon us the impress of his Resurrection, and we
must retain it within us until he again visits us.
And how could it be that we should not retain this
divine impress within us ? Are not all the mysteries
of our divine Master ours also? From his very first
coming in the Flesh, he has made us sharers in everything he has done.
He was born in Bethlehem: we

were born together with him. He was crucified: our
‘old man was crucified with him.” He was buried:
‘we were buried with him.”” And therefore, when he
rose from the grave, we also received the grace that we

should walk in the newness of life.*
Such is the teaching of the Apostle, who thus continues: ‘We know that Christ rising again from the
dead,

dieth now

no more;

death

shall no more

have

dominion over him: for in that he died to sin, (that is,
for sin,) he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God.® He is our head, and we are his members:
we share in what is his. To die again by sin would be
to renounce him, to separate ourselves from him, to
forfeit that Death and Resurrection of his which he
mercifully willed should be ours. Let us, therefore,
preserve within us that life, which is the life of our
Jesus, and which yet belongs to us as our own treasure;
for he won it by conqueringdeath and then gave it to
* Collect for Tuesday in Easter Week.
? Rom.vi6.
* Rom.vi4
“Rom.vig.
* Rom.vig,10.

PASCHAL TIME
24
us, with all his other merits. You, then, who before
Easter were sinners, but have now returned to the life
of grace, see that you die no more; let your actions
tespeak your resurrection. And you to whom the
Paschal solemnity has brought growth in grace, show
this increase of more abundant life by your principles
and your conduct. ‘Tis thus all will ‘walk in the
newness of life.”
With this, for the present, we take leave of the lessons

taught us by the Resurrection of Jesus; the rest we reserve
for the humble commentary we shall have to make on
the Liturgy of this holy season. We shall then see,
more and more clearly, not only our duty of imitating
our divine Master’s Resurrection, but the magnificence
of this grandest Mystery of the Man-God.
Easter—
with its three admirable manifestations of divine love
and power, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the
Descent of the Holy Ghost—yes, Easter is the perfection
of the work of our Redemption. Everything, both in
the order of time and in the workings of the Liturgy,
has been a preparation for Easter. The four thousand
years that followed the promise made by God to our
first parents were crowned by the event that we are
now to celebrate.
All that the Church has been doing

for us from the commencement
same

glorious

event

in

view;

and

of Advent
now

had this

that we

have

come to it, our expectations are more than realized, and
the power and wisdom of God are brought before us
so vividly that our former knowledge of them seems
nothing in comparison with our present appreciation
and love of them.
Ihe angels themselves are dazzled
by the grand Mystery, as the Church tells us in one of
her Easter hymns, where she says: ‘ The angels gaze
with wonder on the change wrought in mankind: it
was flesh that sinned, and now Flesh taketh all sin
away, and the God that reigns is the God made Flesh.

Eastertide, too, belongs to what is called the I/umina-

tve Life ; nay,

it is the most

important

3 Hyma for the Matias of Asceasion Day.

part of that

PRACTICE

DURING

PASCHAL

TIME

25

life, for it not only manifests, as the last four seasons of
the liturgical year have done, the humiliations and the

sufferings of the Man-God: it shows him to us in all his

grand glory; it gives us to see him expressing in his
own sacred humanity the highest degree of the creature’s
transformation into his God. The coming of the Holy
Ghost will bring additional brightness to this illumination; it shows

us the relations that exist between

soul and the Third Person of the blessed Trinity.

the

And

here we see the way and the progress of a faithful soul.

She was made an adopted child of the Heavenly Father;
she was

initiated into all the duties and mysteries

of

her high vocation by the lessons and examples of the

Incarnate Word; she was perfected by the visit and
indwelling of the Holy Ghost. From this there result
those several Christian exercises which produce within
her an imitation of her divine Model, and prepare her
for that Union to which she is invited by him who gave
to them that received him, power to be made sons of
God,’ by a birth that is ‘ not of blood, nor of the flesh,
but of God.”
* St John i 12, 13.

PASCHAL TIME

26

CHAPTER
MORNING

THE

FOURTH

AND NIGHT PRAYERS
PASCHAL TIME

FOR

URING Paschal time, the Christian, on
in the morning, will unite himself with the
who in her Office of Matins says to us these
words, which choirs of religious men and
throughout the universe, have been chanting

the deep silence of the night:
Surrexit Dominus vere. Al-

leluia.

The Lord

Alleluia,

hath

waking
Church,
solemn
women,
during

truly risen.

He will profoundly adore the Son of God rising from
the tomb, and surrounded with the dazzling rays of his
grand triumph. He will hail him with delighted joy,
as being

the divine

Sun

of Justice,

world that he may rescue it from
and illuminate it with
perform

his

rises on the

the darkness of sin

the light of grace.

these ideas deeply impressed

must

who

upon

his mind

first acts of religion,

It is with

both

that he
interior

and exterior, wherewith he begins the day. The time
for Morning Prayer being come, he may use the following method, which is formed upon the very prayers
of the Church:

MORNING PRAYERS

First, praise and adoration of the Most Holy Trinity:

¥. Benedicamus Patrem et

¥. Let us bless the Father,
Filium, cum Sancto Spiritu.
:;l‘;.d :.he Son, and the Holy
ost,
R. Laudemus et super- R, Let us praise him and

exaltemus eum in szcula.

extol him above all, for ever,

MORNING
¥. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et
Spiritui Sancto.

K. Sicut erat in principio,
et nunc et semper, et in szcula.
szculorum. Amen.

27

PRAYERS

¥. Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy
Ghost.

R, Asitwas in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be, world
without end.
Amen.

Then, praise to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ:

Y. In resurrectione tua,

Christe, alleluia.
Ry. Ceeli et terra letentur,

alleluia.

¥. In thy Resurrection, O
Chirist, alleluia.
K. Let heaven and earth
rejoice, alleluia.

Thirdly, invocation of the Holy Ghost:

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reCome, O Holy Spirit, il the
ple tuorum corda fidelium, hearts of thy faithful, and
et tui amoris in eis ignem enkindle within them the fire
accende.
of thy love.
After these fundamental acts of religion, recite the
Lord’s Prayer, begging of God the Father of our Lord

Jesus

upon

Christ,

earth

that

he would

the kingdom

mercifully

of his dwme

establish

Son,

who

here

has

won for himself all power, in heaven and on earth, by
the triumph gained over death and hell by his Resurrection; and that he vouchsafe to deliver us from evil,
that is, from sin, which brought death into this world,

and made it necessary for Jesus himself to suffer that very
death over which he gained victory both for himself and
for us.
THE LORD’S PRAYER

Pater noster, qui es in
ceelis, sanctificetur nomen
tuum:
adveniat regnum
tuum: fiat voluntas tua, sicut in ceelo, et in terra, Panem nostrum quotidianum
da_nobis hodie: et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et
nos dimittimus debitoribus
nostris: et ne nos inducas in
tentationem: sed libera nos
amalo. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name; rhy
kingdom coms ; thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us’ this day our daily
bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that
trespass against us; and lead us
not into temptation; but deliver
s from evil. Amen.

PASCHAL

28

TIME

Then, address our Blessed Lady, using the words of
the Angelical Salutation. Congratulate her on the
happiness which her maternal heart must have felt
when she saw her Jesus after his Resurrection. How
she must have exulted at the sight of her Son, all radiant
with the splendour of his triumph!
Her joy was the
greater, because the Agony and cruel Death of this
dear Fruit of her womb had pierced her soul with a
sword of sorrow.
THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION

Ave Maria, gratia plena:
Dominus tecum: benedicta
tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,

Hail Mary, full of grace: the
Lord is with thee; blessed art
thou among women, and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and

str@.

Amen.

nunc et in hora mortis noAmen.

at

the

hour

of

our

death.

After this, you should recite the Creed, that is the
symbol of faith. It contains the dogmas we are to
believe;

and

amongst

these

are

the

Resurrection

of

Christ, which is the foundation of the Christian religion,

and the Ascension, which raises up our thoughts and
hopes to heaven.
You should dwell, with devout
attention, on those words: I believe in the Holy Ghost,
for it was

during

faith when

you

this season

that

the

Spirit of love

came down upon the earth in order to sanctify us.
Repeat with enthusiasm the words, I believe in the Holy
Catholic Church, because this our Mother was installed in
her glorious ministry by our Saviour, before his Ascension, and was made fruitful by the Holy Ghost descending upon ber. Finally, put on all the ardour of your
pronounce

the words, I believe in the

resurrection of the body ; it will be a homage most pleasing

to our Redeemer, who vouchsafed to communicate
to our poor flesh the reality and the glory of his own
Resurrection.

MORNING

PRAYERS

THE APOSTLES’

Credo in Deum Patrem
omnipotentem, __ Creatorem
coeli et terrz. Et in Jesum
Christum Filium ejus unicum,
Dominum nostrum:
qui con”
ceptus est de Spiritu
Sancto,
natusex Maria Virgine, passus
sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus,
mortuus, et sepultus: descendit ad inferos, tertia die
resurrexit a mortuis: ascendit
ad ceelos, sedet ad dexteram
Dei Patris omnipotentis:
inde venturus est judicare
vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam
Ecclesiam Catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum,
carnis
resurrectionem, vitam @ternam. Amen.

29

CREED

T believe in God the Father
Almighty, Creator of heaven
and earth. And in Jesus
Christ, his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary;
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried
he descended into hell, the third
day he vose again from the dead ;
he asconded into heaven, sitteth
at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty; from thence
he shall come to judge the living
and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost ;
the Holy Catholic Church; the
communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection
of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen.

After having thus made the profession of your faith,

give praise to your divine Lord, who, early on the
Sunday morning, rose from the tomb by his own power.
He hereby invited all men to share in the Easter joy,
and from the very midst of death enriched them with
life. With this before you, recite the following hymn
given you by the Church in her Office of Lauds
during Paschal Time.

Aurora colum purpurat,
Zther resultat laudibus,
Mundus triumphans jubilat,
Horrens avernus infremit.
Rex ille dum fortissimus
De mortis inferno specu
Patrum senatum liberum
Educit ad vita jubar.

HYMN
Day-dawn

the

air

gilds the heavens;

re-echoes

with

our

hell howls

with

hymns, the world is triumphant
and glad, and
fear and rage.
This

is

the

hour

host

of

when

our

most mighty King freed from
the deep prison of death the

venerable

?:1‘1:1 led them

ife.

to

the

the

fathers,

light

of

30

PASCHAL TIME

Cujus sepulchrum plurimo
Custode signabat lapis,
Victor triumphat, et suo
Mortem sepulchro funerat.
Sat funer, sat lacrymis,
Sat est datum doloribus:
Surrexit exstinctor necis,
Clamat coruscans Angelus.
Ut sis perenne mentibus
Paschale, Jesu, gaudium,
A morte dira criminum
Vit renatos libera.
Deo Patri sit gloria,
Et Filio, qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
In sempiterna szcula.
Amen.
Here
reciting
Church.

A numerous body of soldiers
keep watch at the tomb; a
stone is rolled against it, and
all is sealed. But Jesus tri
umphs over death, and buries
it in his own grave,
A bright angel cries out:
‘Away with mourning, tears,
and grief| The conqueror of
death is risen I
That thou, O Jesus, mayst
be an endless Paschal joy to
our hearts, free us, who have
been regenerated unto life, from
the dread death of sin.
Glory be to God the Father,
and to the Son who rose from
the dead, and to the Paraclete,
for everlasting ages.
Amen.

make a humble confession of your sins,
the general formula made use of by the
THE CONFESSION

Confiteor Deo
omnipotenti, beate Mariz semper
Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptist, sanctis Apostolis Petro
et Paulo, et omnibus sanctis,
quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, et opere: mea
culpa, mea culpa, mea maxi‘ma culpa. Ideo precor beatam
Mariam semper Virginem,
beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joannem
Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos
Petrum et Paulum, et omnes
sanctos, orare pro me ad
Dominum Deum nostrum.
Misereatur nostri _omnipotens Deus, et dimissis
peccatis nostris, perducat nos
ad vitam mternam. Amen.

OF SINS

1 confess to Almighty God, to
blessed Mary ever Virgin, to
blessed Michael the Archangel,
to blessed John the Baptist,
to the holy Apostles Peter and
Paul, and to all the saints, that
1 have sinned exceedingly in
thought, word, and deed ;
through my fault, through my
fault, through my most grievous
fault. Therefore I beseech the
blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed
Michael the Archangel, blessed
John the Baptist, the holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, and
all the saints, to pray to the
Lord our God for me.
May Almighty God have
mercy on us, and, our sins
being forgiven, bring us to life
everlasting. Amen.

MORNING

absolutioIndulgentiam,
nem, et Temissionem peccatorum nostrorum tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors
Dominus. Amen.

PRAYERS

31

May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon,
absolution, and remission of
our sins. Amen.

This is the proper place for making your meditation,
as no doubt you practise this holy exercise. During
Paschal Time the following should form the leading
subjects of our meditations: The power and glory of
the Man-God in 'his Resurrection; the love he has shown
us by giving us to share in his victory over death; the
apparitions wherewith he consoled his blessed Mother,
Magdalen

and the other holy women,

after

Resurrection;

the Apostles and

disciples; the forty days he passed on earth, previous
to his Ascension; the glorious qualities of his body
his

our

own

Resurrection;

the

magnificence of the Ascension; the Descent of the Holy

Ghost, and the preparation we should make for it; and

lastly, the obligation
new life which Easter
absolutely necessary
sublime Mysteries now

we are under of walking in that
brings with it, and which is the
means of our benefiting by the
brought before us.

The next part of your Morning Exercise must consist
in asking of God, by the following prayers, grace to
avoid every kind of sin.

Say,

then, with

the Church,

whose prayers must ever be preferred to all others:

¥. Domine,

exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te
veniat.
OREMUS.

Domine, Deus omnipotens,
qui ad principium hujus diei
nos pervenire fecisti, tua nos
hodie salva virtute, ut in hac
die ad nullum declinemus
peccatum, sed semper ad
tuam justitiam _faciendam
nostra procedant eloquia, dirigantur cogitationes et opera.

¥. O Lord, hear my prayer.
Ry. And let my cry come unto

thee.

LET US PRAY.
Almighty Lord and God, who
hast brought us to the beginning
of this day, let thy powerful
grace so conduct us through it,
that we may not fall into any
sin, but that all our thoughts,
words, and actions may be
regulated according to the rules
of thy heavenly justice, and

PASCHAL TIME

32

Per Dominum nostrum Je- tend to the observance of thy
sum Christum_filium tuum, holy law. Through Jesus Christ
qui tecum vivit et regnat in our Lord. Amen.
unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus,
per omnia szcula szculorum,
Amen.
Then

the day,
thrice:

beg

the

that

divine

you

may

¥. Deus, in adjutorium
meum intende.
R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
¥. Deus, in adjutorium
‘meum intende.
R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
¥. Deus, in adjutorium
meum intende.
K. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
OREMUS.
Dirigere et sanctificare, regore et gubernare dignare,
Domine Deus, Rex celi et
terra, hodie corda et corpora
nostra, sensus, sermones, et
actus mnostros in lege tua,
et in operibus mandatorum
tuorum, ut hic et in wmternum, te auxiliante, salvi et
liberi esse mereamur, Salvator mundi. Qui vivis et
regnas in szcula szculorum.
Amen.

assistance

do

for the

them

well,

actions

and

of

say

¥. Incline unto my aid, O
Ge od.
R. O Lord, make haste to
help me.
¥. Incline unto my aid, O
God.
Ry O Lord, make haste to
help me.
Y. Incline unto my aid, O
God.
R. O Lord, make haste to
help me.
LET US PRAY.
Lord God, and King of
heaven and earth, vouchsafe
this day to rule and sanctify,
to direct and govern our souls
and bodies, our senses, words,
and actions in conformity to
thy law, and strict obedience
to thy commands; that by the
help of thy grace, O Saviour of
the world | we may be fenced
and freed from all evils. Who
livest and reignest for ever and
ever. Amen.

During the day you will do well to use the instructions and prayers which you will find in this volume
for each day of the season, both for the Proper of the
Time and the Proper of the Saints. In the evening you
may use the following Prayers:

NIGHT

PRAYERS

NIGHT

PRAYERS

33

After having made the sign of the cross, adore that

Sovereign Lord, who has so mercifully preserved you
during this day, and

blessed you every hour with his
For this end, recite the following

grace and protection.
hymn, which the Church
Paschal Time.

sings

in her

Vespers

HYMN

for

Having passed the Red Sea,
and now seated at the royai
banquet of the Lamb, clad in
our white robes, let us sing
a hymn to Christ our King.
In his divine love for us, he
gives us to drink of his precious
Blood. Love is the priest that
immolates his sacred Body.
The destroying angel looks
with awe upon the Blood that
is sprinkled on the thresholds.
The sea divides its waters, and
buries our enemies in its waves.
Jam Pascha nostrum ChriChrist is now our Pasch; he
stus est,
is our Paschal Lamb; he is the
unleavened Bread of sincerity,
Paschalis idem victima,
Et pura puris mentibus
pure food for pure souls.
Sinceritatis azyma.
O truly heavenly Victim | by
O vera ceeli victima,
Subjecta cui sunt tartara,
whom hell was vanquished, the
fetters of death were broken,
Soluta mortis vincula,
and life was awarded to man
Recepta vitz premia.
kind.
Victor subactis inferis
Christ, our Conqueror, unTrophaa Christus explicat,
folds his banner, for he has
Ceeloque aperto, subditum
subdued the powers of hell,
Regem tenebrarum trahit.
He opens heaven to man, and
leads captive the prince of
darkness.
That thou, O Jesus, mayst
Ut sis perenne mentibus
be an endless Paschal joy to
Paschale, Jesu, gaudium,
our hearts, free us, who have
A morte dira criminum
been regenerated unto life, from
Vit renatos libera.
the dread death of sin.

Ad regias Agni dapes,
Stolis amicti candidis,
Post transitum maris Rubri,
Christo canamus principi.
Divina cujus charitas
Sacrum propinat sanguinem,
‘Almique membra corporis
Amor sacerdos immolat.
Sparsum cruorem postibus
Vastator horret Angelus;
Fugitque divisum mare,
Merguntur hostes fluctibus.

3

34

Deo Patri sit gloria,
Et Filio, qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
In sempiterna szcula.
Amen.
After
and the
Then
in your
Think

PASCHAL

TIME

Glory be to God the Father,
and to the Son who rose from
the dead, and to the Paraclete,
for everlasting ages.
Amen.

this hymn say the Our Father, Hail Mary
Apostles’ Creed, as in the morning.
make the examination of conscience, going over
mind all the faults committed during the day.

how

opposed

sin is to that

new

life which

we

ought now to be leading with our risen Lord: make
a firm resolution to avoid sin for the time to come, to
do penance for it, and to shun the occasions which might
again lead you into it.
The examination of conscience concluded, recite the
Confiteor (or * I confess’)

with heartfelt contrition, and

which we have taken
Bellarmine’s Catechism:

from

give expression

to your sorrow by the following Act,

the

Blessed

Cardinal

ACT OF CONTRITION

O my God, I am exceedingly grieved for having offended

thee, and with my whole heart I repent of the sins I have committed:

I hate and

abhor them above every other evil, not only

because by so sinning I have lost Heaven and deserve Hell,
but still more because I have offended thee, O infinite Goodness,
who art worthy to be loved above all things. I most firmly
resolve, by the assistance of thy grace, never more to offend
thee for the time to come, and to avoid those occasions which
might lead me into sin.
You may then add the Acts of Faith, Hope, and
Charity, to the recitation of which Pope Benedict XIV
has granted an indulgence of seven years and seven
quarantines for each time.
ACT OF FAITH

O my God, I firmly believe whatsoever the Holy Catholic
Apostolic Roman Church requires me to believe; I believe it,
because thou hast revealed it to her, thou who art the very
Truth.

NIGHT PRAYERS
ACT

OF

35

HOPE

O my God, knowing thy almighty power, and thy infinite
goodness and mercy, I hope in thee that by the merits of the
Passion and Death of our Saviour Jesus Christ thou wilt grant
me eternal life, which thou hast promised to all such as shall
do the works of a good Christian; and these I resolve to do,
with the help of thy grace.
ACT

OF

CHARITY

0 my God, I love thee with my whole heart and above all
things, because thou art the sovereign Good: I would rather
lose all things than offend thee. For thy love also, I love, and
desire to love, my neighbour as myself.
Then say to our Blessed Lady the following Anthem,

which the Church uses during Paschal Time:

ANTHEM

TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Regina ceeli, lztare, allcluia,

Quia quem meruisti portare,
alleluia,
Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
¥. Gaude et lztare, Virgo
Maria, alleluia.
Ry. Quia surrexit Dominus
vere, allelnia.
OREMUS.
Deus,

qui

per

Resurre-

ctionem Filii tui Domini nostri_Jesu Christi, mundum
lztificare dignatus es: prasta, quasumus, ut per ejus
Genitricem
Virginem Mariam, perpetuz capiamus
gaudia vitz. Per eumdem
Christum
Dominum
nostrum. Amen.

Rejoice, O Queen of heaven,
alleluia,
For he whom thou didst deserve
to bear, alleluia.
Hath risen, as he said, alleluia.
Pray to God for us, alleluia.
¥. Rejoice and be glad, O
Virgin Mary, alleluia.
K. For the Lord hath truly
risen, alleluia.
LET US PRAY.
0 God, who, by the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
thy Son, didst vouchsafe to
make the world rejoice, grant,
we beseech thee, that, by the
intercession of the Virgin Mary,
his Mother, we may receive the
joys of eternal life. Through
the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.

You would do well to add the Litany of our Lady.
An indulgence of three hundred days for each time it
is recited has been granted by the Church.

PASCHAL

36

THE LITANY

OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe, audi nos.
Christe, exaudi nos.
Pater de ccelis, Deus, miserere nobis.
Fili, Redemptor
_mundi,
Deus, miserere nobis.
Spiritus Sancte, Deus, miseTere nobis
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus,
‘miserere nobis.
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobi
Sancta Dei Genitrix, ora, efc.
Sancta Virgo Virginum,
Mater Christi,
Mater divina gratiz,
Mater purissima,
Mater castissima,
Mater inviolata,
Mater intemerata,
Mater amabilis,
Mater admirabilis,
Mater Boni Consi
Mater Creatoris,
Mater Salvatoris,
Virgo prudentissima,
Virgo veneranda,
Virgo pradicanda,
Virgo potens,
Virgo clemens,
Virgo fidelis,
Speculum justitiz,
Sedes sapientii,
Causa nostra: lstitiz,
Vas spirituale,
Vas honorabile,
Vas insigne devotionis,
Rosa mystica,
Turris Davidica,
Turris eburnea,
Domus aurea,
Feederis arca,
Janua ceeli,
Stella matutina,

TIME

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have
mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the
world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy
on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have
mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray, efc.
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of Good Counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Redeemer,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honour,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical Rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Atk of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,

Morning Star,

NIGHT PRAYERS

Salus infirmorum,
Refugium peccatorum.
Consolatrix afflictorum,
Auxilium Christianorum,
Regina Angelorum,
Regina Patriarcharum,
Regina Prophetarum,
Regina Apostolorum,
Regina Martyrum,
Regina Confessorum,
Regina Virginum,
Regina Sanctorum omnium,
Regina sine labe originali
concepta,
Regina sacratissimi Rosarii.
Regina pacis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata
mundi, parce nobis, Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, exaudi nos,
Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Christe, audi nos.
Christe, exaudi nos.
Y. Ora pro nobis, sancta
Dei Genitrix.
K. Ut digni efficiamur
‘promissionibus Christi.

Health of the weak,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of Angels,

OREMUS.

LET US PRAY.

Concede nos famulos_tuos,
quzsumus
Domine Deus,
perpetua mentis et corporis
sanitate gaudere: et gloriosa
beatz Mariz semper Virginis
intercessione, a prasenti liberari _tristitia, et wmterna
perfrui letitia. Per Christum
Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Here

invoke

the holy

37

Queen of Patriarchs,
Queen of Prophets,

Queen of Apostles,
Gueen of Martyrs,
Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Virgins
Queen of all Saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
Queen of peace.
Lamb of God, who takest away
the sins of the world, spare
us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away
the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away
the sins of the world, have
mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Chirist, graciously hear us.
Y. Pray for us, O holy. Mother
of God.
K. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ.
Grant, O Lord, we beseech
thee, that we thy servants may
enjoy constant health of body
and mind, and by the glorious
intercession of blessed Mary
ever a Virgin, be delivered from
all present affliction, and come
to that joy which is etemnal.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
angels,

whose

protection

is,

indeed, always so much needed by us, but never so
much as during the hours of night. Say with the
Church:

38

PASCHAL

Sancti angeli, custodes nostri, defendite nos in praelio,
ut non pereamus in tremendo
judicio.
¥. Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te.
R. Ut custodiant te in
omnibus viis tuis.
OREMUS.
Deus, qui ineffabili providentia sanctos angelos tuos
ad nostram custodiam mittere dignaris: largire supplicibus tuis, et eorum semper
protectione defendi, et wterna societate gaudere. Per
Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen.

TIME

Holy angels, our loving
guardians, defend us in the
hour of battle, that we may
not be lost at the dreadful
judgement.
¥. God hath given his angels
charge of thee.

R. That they may guard thee

in all thy ways.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who in thy wonderful
providence hast been pleased to
appoint thy holy angels for our
guardians: mercifully hear our
prayers, and grant we may rest
secure under their protection,
and enjoy their fellowship in
heaven for ever. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then beg the assistance of the saints by the followmg
antiphon and prayer of the Church:

Anr. Sancti Dei omnes, inANT. All ye Saints of God,
tercedere dignemini pro no- vouchsafe to intercede for us
and for all men, that we may
stra omniumque salute.
be saved.
And here you may add a special mention of the
saints to whom you bear a particular devotion, either
as your patrons or otherwise; as also of those whose

feast is kept in the Church that day, or who have been
at least commemorated in the Divine Office.
This done, remember the necessities of the Church
Suffering, and beg of God that he will give to the souls
in Purgatory a place of refreshment, light, and peace.
For this intention recite the usual prayers.
PSALM

129

De profundis clamavi ad
From the depths I have cried
te, Domine: Domine, exaudi to thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my
voice.
vocem meam.
Fiant aures tuz intendentes:
Let thine ears be attentive to
in vocem deprecationis me. the voice of my supplication,

NIGHT

Si_iniquitates observaveris, Domine: Domine, quis
sustinebit ?
Quia apud te propitiatio
est: et propter legem tuam
sustinui te, Domine,
Sustinuit anima mea_in
verbo ejus: speravit anima
mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque
ad noctem: speret Israel in
Domino.
.
Quia_apud Dominum misericordia: et copiosa apud
eum redemptio.
Et ipse redimet Isracl: ex
omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.
Requiem @ternam dona eis,
Domine,
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
¥. A porta inferi,
. Erye, Domine, animas
eorum.
¥. Requiescant in pace.
Ry, Amen.
¥. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
K. Et clamor meus ad te
veniat.
OREMUS,

Fidelium Deus omnium
Conditor et Redemptor, animabus famulorum _famularumque tuarum remissionem
cunctorum _tribue peccatorum: ut indulgentiam, quam
semper optaverunt, piis supplicationibus _consequantur.
Qui vivis et regnas in szcula
szculorum, Amen.

PRAYERS

39

If thou wilt observe iniquities, O Lord, Lord, who shall
endure it ?
For with thee there is merciful
forgiveness; and by reason of thy
law Ihave waited for thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on his
word; my soul hath hoped in
the Lord.
From, **~morning watch even
until night, let Israel hope in
the Lord.
Because with the Lord there
is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption.
And_ he shall redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest give to them, O
Lord,
And let perpetual light shine
upon them.
¥. From the gate of hell,
R, Deliver their souls, O
Lord.
¥. May they rest in peace.
Ry. Amen.
¥. O Lord, hear my prayer.

K. And let my cry come unto

thee.

LET US PRAY.

O God, the Creator and
Redeemer of all the faithful,
give to the souls of thy servants
departed the remission of all
their sins: that through the help
of pious supplications, they may
obtain the pardon they have
always desired. Who livest and
reignest for ever and ever.
Amen.

Here make a special memento of such of the faithful departed as have a particular claim upon your
charity; after which, ask of God to give you his
assistance, whereby you may pass the night free from

40
danger.

Church:

PASCHAL TIME
Say, then,

still keeping

AN, Salva nos, Domine,
vigilantes, custodi nos dormientes: ut vigilemus cum
Christo, et requiescamus in
pace.
V. Dignare Domine, nocte
ista,
R/, Sine peccato nos custodire.
¥. Miserere nostri, Domine.
Ry. Miserere nostri.
¥. Fiat misericordia tua,
Domine, super nos.
R/. Quemadmodum speravimus in te.
¥. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
K. Et clamor meus ad te
veniat.
OREMUS.
Visita, quesumus, Domine,
habitationem istam, et omnes
insidias inimici ab ea_longe
repelle: angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace
custodiant, et benedictio tua
sit super nos semper. Per
Dominum _nostrum Jesum
Christum, Filium tuum, qui
tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per
omnia szcula seculorum.
Amen.

to the words of the

ANT. Save us, O Lord, while
awake, and watch us as we
sleep; that we may watch with
Christ and rest in peace.
¥. Vouchsafe, O Lord, this
night,
K. "To keep us without sin.
¥. Have mercy on us, O
Lord.
Ry, Have mercy on us.
¥. Let thy mercy, O Lord,
be upon us.
K. As we have hoped in thee.
¥. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto
thee.
LET US PRAY.

Visit, we beseech thee, O
Lord, this house and family,
and drive far from it all snares
of the enemy; let thy holy
angels dwell herein, who may
keep us in peace, and may thy
blessing be always upon us.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
thy Son, who liveth and reigneth
with thee, in_the unity of the
Holy Ghost, God, world without
end. Amen.

And that you may end the day with sentiments suitable to the joyous season, repeat, with the Church, these
beautiful words of the two disciples of Emmaus:

¥. Mane nobiscum, DoV. Stay with us, O Lord,
mine, alleluia.
alleluia.
K. For it is now evening,
R’ Quoniam advesperascit,
alleluia.
alleluia.

41

MASS

ON

HEARING
HEN

CHAPTER

THE

MASS

DURING

we assisted

FIFTH
PASCHAL

TIME

at the holy Sacrifice during

Passiontide, our attention was fixed on the real

immolation of the Lamb;

we looked upon

the altar as

a new Calvary; and our devotion was centred upon the
divine Victim slain for our ransom. During Eastertide

the Lamb presents himself to us in another aspect; he
is living, he is resplendent with glory, he is the Conqueror. He still deigns to be immolated; but it is that
he may invite us to a joyous banquet—the banquet of
the Pasch—wherein he gives us to eat of his Flesh.
In her chants during the Mass the Church is untiring
in her Alleluia; she affectionately kisses the Wounds
of her Jesus, which now dart forth rays of dazzling
brightness. Her altar is the throne of the risen God;
she approaches it without fear, for the divine Conqueror
of death, though so resplendent in his glory, is more
loving and affable than ever.

Another source of joy to the Church, when at the
holy altar, is the sight of her children partaking of the
banquet of the Paschal Lamb.
Each church is now
a Cenacle, where Jesus celebrates the Pasch with his
disciples. The holy Table is no longer the feast of a
chosen few; the guests come in in crowds, and the House
isfilled. Now is the great figure of the Old Law changed
into a reality. ‘At this Table of the great King, the
new Pasch of the New Law puts an end to the ancient

Passover.

The new excludes the old; reality

puts the

shadow to flight; light expels night.*
We are the
children of the promise; we have not denied Christ, as
* Sequence for the Feast of Corpus Christh

PASCHAL TIME

42

did the Jews; but we acknowledged him to be our King,
while his faithless people were dragging him to execu-

tion. He, in return, has invited us to his Pasch, and
there he is our host and our food.
During Eastertide, then, the holy Sacrifice puts these
two spectacles before us in a most special way: a Victim
who

is risen from the dead, and yet is still immolated

in a real though unbloody manner; and a Table prepared
for the eating of the

Lamb,

which

is, indeed,

offered

during the whole year to the faithful for the life of their
souls, but which is now frequented by all. At this
Table is likewise fulfilled the prophetic symbol of the
ancient Paschal Lamb.
For fifteen hundred years it
was

the

figurative

Lamb;

reigned nineteen hundred;

the

true

Lamb

has

and this is the Lamb

now

whom

the holy Mass reproduces in all the efficacy of his Sacrifice
and in all the magnificence of his glory.
‘We ought, therefore, during Paschal Time, to assist
at holy Mass with these great truths present before our

minds; and whilst thinking of the beauty of the ancient

types we should be most grateful to our Heavenly
Father for having given us to live under the reign of the
new Pasch. Let us be present at this great act of the
Christian Religion with extreme joy o% soul, for it is

here that we have, in all his reality, the same Jesus
who rose again from the dead, to die no more.
Let us

unite with his holy Mother Mary, with Magdalen, and
with his disciples. They had the immense happiness
of seeing and conversing with him for forty days after

his Resurrection: he shows himself to us, also, in this
august Sacrifice. Let us give him our adoration and
love, and with all possible fervour.
We will now endeavour to embody these sentiments
in our explanation of the Mysteries of the holy Mass,
and initiate the faithful into these divine secrets; not,
indeed, by indiscreetly presuming to translate the sacred
formule, but by suggesting such acts as will enable
those who hear Mass to enter into the ceremonies and

spirit of the Church and of the priest.

MASS

43

During a considerable portion of Paschal Time the
Mass is celebrated in commemoration of the great
Mysteries which were accomplished at this season of
the liturgical year; the prayers used by the Church on
these several feasts are given in their proper places.

On other days the holy Sacrifice
in honour of the saints, except
occurs.

On

the Sundays,

if the Mass

at

is generally said
when a Sunday

which

the faithful

assist be the Parochial, or as it often is called the public
Mass, two solemn rites precede it, and they are full of
instruction and blessing: the Asperges, or sprinkling
of the Holy Water, and the procession.
During the Asperges let us recall to our minds the
baptism received on Easter Eve by the Neophytes. Let
us also think of our own, whereby we were made members
of Christ. The water that thus regenerated us was
made fruitful by the Blood of the Lamb and by the
power of the Holy Ghost.
ANTIPHON

OF THE ASPERGES

Vidi aquam egredientem
de templo a latere dextro,
alleluia: et omnes, ad_quos
pervenit aqua ista, salvi facti
sunt et dicent: Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps, Confitemini
Domino,
quoniam bonus: quoniam in
smculum misericordia ejus.
Gloria Patri. Vidi aquam.
¥. Ostende nobis, Domine,
misericordiam tuam, alleluia.
K. Et salutare tuum da
nobis, alleluia.
OREMUS.
Exaudi nos, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, terne Deus: et mittere digneris
sanctum angelum tuum de
caelis, qui custodiat, foveat,
protegat, visitet, atque de-

I saw water flowing from the
sight side of the temple, alleluia: and all to whom that water
came were saved, and they shall
say: Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Praise the Lord, because
he is good; because his mercy
endureth for ever.
Glory, etc. 1saw.
Y. Show us, O Lord, thy
mercy, alleluia.
K. And grant us thy salvation,
alleluia.
LET

US

PRAY.

Graciously hear us, O holy
Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal
God:'and vouchsafe to send thy
holy angel from heaven, who
may keep, cherish, protect, visit
and defend all who are assembled

44

PASCHAL TIME

fendat omnes habitantes in
hoc habitaculo.
Per Chri-

stum

Amen.

Dominum

nostrum.

Through
in this place.
our Lord.
Amen.

Christ

The procession, which immediately precedes the Mass,
represents the holy women going to the Sepulchre, with
the intention of re-embalming the body of their divine
Master. They found it not there; but Jesus at once
showed himself to them, and they returned filled with
‘wonder and joy.
But see, Christians; the Sacrifice begins ! The priest
is at the foot of the altar; God is attentive, the angels
are in adoration, the whole Church is united with the
priest, whose priesthood and action are those of the
great High Priest, Jesus Christ. Let us make the sign
of the cross with him.

THE

ORDINARY

OF THE

MASS

THE ORDINARY

OF THE

MASS

In nomine Patris, et Fi
et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Y. Introibo ad altare Dei.
Ry. Ad Deum qui letificat

juventutem meam.

Judica me, Deus, et discefne causam meam de gente
non sancta: ab homine iniquo
et doloso erue me.
Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo
mea: quare me repulisti?
et quare tristis incedo, dum
affligit me inimicus ?
Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in
montem sanctum tuum, et in
tabernacula tua.
Et introibo ad altare Dei:
ad Deum qui Letificat juventutem meam.
Confitebor tibi in cithara
Deus, Deus meus: quare tristis €s anima mea ? et quare
conturbas me ?
Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: Salutare
vultus mei, et Deus meus.
Gloria_Patri, et Filio, et
Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio et
nunc et semper, et in szcula
szculorum. Amen,

45

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. _Amen.
I unite myself, O my God,
with thy Church whose heart
is filled with the hope of soon
seeing, in all the splendour of
his Resurrection, Jesus Christ
thy Son, who is the true Alfar.
Like her I beseech thee to
defend me against the malice of
the enemies of my salvation.
It is in thee that I have put
my hope; yet do I feel sad and
troubled at being in the midst of
the snares which are set for me.
Send me, then, him who is
light and truth : it is he who
will open to us the way to thy
holy mount, to thy heavenly
tabernacle.
He is the Mediator, and the
living Altar: I will draw nigh
to him and be filled with joy.
When he shall have come, I
will sing in my gladness: Be not
sad, O my soul | Why wouldst
thou be troubled ?
Hope in thy Jesus, who will
soon show himself to thee as
the conqueror of that death
which he suffered in thy stead;
and thou wilt rise again together
with him.
Glory be to the Father, and to
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.

46

PASCHAL

¥. Introibo
ad altare Dei.
R/ Ad Deum qui lztificat
juventutem meam.
¥. Adjutorium nostrum in
nomine Domini.
Ry. Qui fecit coelum et terram.

TIME

I am to go to the altar of
God, and feel the presence of
him who desires to give me a
new life |
This my hope comes not to
me as thinking that I have any
‘merits, but from the all-powerful
help of my Creator.

The thought of being about to appear before his God

excites in the soul of the priest a lively sentiment

of

compunction.
He cannot go further in the holy
Sacrifice without confessing, and publicly, that he is
a sinner, and deserves not the grace he is about to
receive. Listen with respect to this confession of God'’s
minister, and earnestly ask our Lord to show mercy to
him; for the priest is your father; he is answerable for
your salvation, for which he every day risks his own.
When he has finished, unite with the servers or the
sacred ministers in this prayer:
Misereatur tui omnipotens
May Almighty God have
Deus, et dimissis peccatis mercy on thee, and, forgiving
tuis, perducat te ad vitam thy sins, bring thee to ever@ternam.
lasting life.
The priest having answered Amen, make
fession, saying with a contrite spirit:

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti,
beat Mariz semper Virgini,
beato Michaeli Archangelo,
beato Joanni Baptistwe, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo,
omnibus sanctis, et tibi,
Pater: quia peccavi nimis,
cogitatione, verbo, et opere:
mea_culpa, mea culpa, mea
maxima culpa. Ideo precor
beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem
Archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum’ et Paulum,
omnes sanctos, et te, Pater,
orare pro me ad Dominum
Deum nostrum.

your con-

I confess to Almighty God,
to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to
blessed Michael the Archangel,
to blessed John the Baptist, to
the holy Apostles Peter and
Paul, to all the saints, and to
thee, Father, that I have sinned
exceedingly in thought, word,
and deed, through my fault,
through my fault, through my
most grievous fault. Therefore
T beseech the blessed Mary ever
Virgin, blessed Michael the
Archangel, blessed John the
Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter
and Paul, and all the saints,
and thee, Father, to pray to the
Lord our God for me.

THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS
Receive with gratitude the paternal wish

priest, who says to you:

47
of the

Misereatur vestri _omnipotens Deus, et dimissis pec-

May Almighty God be merciful to you, and forgiving your
catis vestris, perducat vos ad sins, ‘bring you to- everlasting
vitam zternam.
ife.
Ry Amen.
R. Amen.
Indulgentiam, absolutioMay the Almighty and mercinem, et remissionem peccat- ful Lord grant us pardon, absoorum nostrorum tribuat nobis
lution and remission of our sins.
omnipotens et misericors Dominus.
K. Amen.
R/. Amen.
Invoke the divine assistance, that you may approach
to Jesus Christ:

¥. Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos.
. Et plebs tua letabitur
in te.
¥. Ostende nobis, Domine,
misericordiam tuam.
R. Et Salutare tuum da
nobis.
¥. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
K. Et clamor meus ad te
veniat.

Y. O God, it needs but one
look of thine to give us life.
Ry. And thy people shall rejoice in thee.
Y. Show us, O Lord, thy
mercy.
K. And give us to know and
love the Saviour whom thou
hast sent unto us.
¥. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R, And let my cry come unto

thee.

The priest here leaves you to ascend to the altar; but
first he salutes you:
¥. Dominus vobiscum.

Ry. The Lord be with you.

Answer him with reverence:

¥. Et cum spiritu tuo.
He

ascends

the

steps

R. And with thy spirit.

and

comes

to

the

Holy

of

Holies. Ask, both for him and for yourself, deliverance
from sin:

LET US PRAY.
OREMUS.
Aufer a nobis, quasumus,
Take from our hearts, O Lord,
Domine, iniquitates nostras; all those sins which make us
ut ad Sancta sanctorum puris unworthy to appear in thy

TIME

PASCHAL

48

mereamur mentibus introire. presence; we ask this of thee by
Per Christum Dominum no- thy divine Son, our Lord.
strum. Amen.
‘When the priest kisses the altar, out of reverence for

the relics of the Martyrs which are there, say:

Oramus te, Domine, per
merita sanctorum tuorum,
quorum reliqui hic sunt, et
omnium sanctorum: ut indulgere digneris omnia peccata mea.

Amen.

_Generous soldiers of Jesus
Christ, who have mingled “your
own blood with his, intercede
for us that our sins may be
forgiven: that so we may, like
you, approach unto God.

If it be a High Mass at which you are assisting, the

priest incenses the altar in a most solemn manner;

this

white cloud which you see ascending from every part

of the altar signifies the prayer of

the Church, who

addresses herself to Jesus Christ, while the divine
Mediator causes that prayer to ascend, united with

his own,
Father.

to

the

throne

of

the

majesty

of

his

The priest then says the Introit. It is a solemn
opening anthem, in which the Church, at the very com-

mencement of the holy Sacrifice, gives expression to the

sentiments which fill her heart.
It is followed by nine exclamations which are even
more earnest, for they ask for mercy.
In addressing
them to God the Church unites herself with the nine
choirs of angels who are standing round the altar of
Heaven, which is one and the same as this before
which you are kneeling.

Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison.

To the Father
Lord,
Lord,
Lord,

:
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.

To the Son :
Christe eleison.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Christo eleison.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Christe eleison.

Christ, have mercy on us.

THE ORDINARY

Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie eleison.

OF THE MASS

49

To the Holy Ghost :

Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Then, mingling his voice with that of the heavenly
host, the priest intones the sublime Canticle of Beth-

lehem, which announces glory to God and peace to men.
Instructed by the revelations of God, the Church continues, in her own words, the hymn of the angels. She
celebrates with rapture the Lamb of God, who taketh
away the sins of the world ; and, as it were in return
for the humiliations he suffered in his Passion, she
proclaims that ke alone is Holy, he alome is Lord, he
alone Most High. Enter, Christians, into these sentiments of profound adoration, confidence, and tender
love, towards the Paschal Lamb.
THE

ANGELIC

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et
in terra pax hominibus bonz
voluntatis.
Laudamus te: benedicimus
te: adoramus te: glorificamus
te: gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Domine Deus, Rex ceelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine, Fili unigenite,
Jesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agaus Dei,
Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram
Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus,
tusolus Dominus, tu solus
altissimus, Jesu Christe, cum
Sancto Spifitu, in gloria Dei
Patris, Amen.

HYMN

Glory be to God on high, and
on earth peace to men of good
will.
We praise thee: we bless th
we adore thee: we glorify the
we give thee thanks for thy
great glory.
O Lord God, Heavenly King,
God the Father Almighty.
O Lord Jesus Christ, the only
begotten Son.
O Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father.
Who takest away the sins of
the world, have mercy on us.
Who takest away the sins of
the world, receive our humble
prayer.
Who sittest at the right hand
of the Father, have mercy on us.
For thou alone art holy, thou
alone art Lord, thou alone, O
Jesus Christ, together with the
Holy Ghost, art most high in the
glory of God the Father. Amen.
4

PASCHAL TIME

50

The priest then turns towards the people, and again
salutes them. as it were to make sure of their pious

attention to the sublime act for which all this is but the

preparation.
Then follows

the

Collect

or Prayer,

in

which

the

Church formally expresses to the divine Majesty the
special intentions she has in the Mass which is being
celebrated. You may unite in this prayer, by reciting
with the priest the Collects which you will find in their
proper places: but on no account omit to join with the
server of the Mass in answering Amen.
After this comes the Epistle, which is generally a
portion of one or other of the Epistles of the Apostles,
or a passage from some book of the Old Testament.
Whlle it is being read, ask of God that you may profit
by the instructions it conveys.
The Gradual is an intermediate formula of prayer
between the Epistle and the Gospel. It again brings
to us the sentiments already expressed in the Introit.
Read it with devotion, that so you may enter more and
more into the spirit of the mystery proposed to you
by the Church.
During Paschal Time the Gradual is not said, except
for the first six days: we have elsewhere explained the
reason of this exception.
On all other days of the season
the interval between the Epistle and Gospel is filled
up by two Verses, to each of which is added Aleluia,
the word that is now ceaselessly on the Church’s lips.
After the fifty days of Paschal joy the Gradual will be
resumed in the Liturgy.
Next follows the Gospel. It was the Holy Ghost
who guided the four Evangelists; their Gospel, which
is our light and life, is one of the fruits of the glorious
Pentecost. Let us prepare for hearing the words of our
risen Lamb: it is he himself that is about to speak to
us, as he did to his disciples, when he appeared to
them during the days between his Resurrection and
Ascension.

If it be a High Mass, the deacon meanwhile prepares

THE ORDINARY

OF THE MASS

51

to fulfil his noble office—that of announcing the Good
Tidings of salvation. He prays God to cleanse his
heart and lips. Then, kneeling before the priest, he
asks a blessing: and, having received it, at once goes to

the place where he is to sing the Gospel.
As a preparation for hearing it worthily,

you may

thus pray, together with both priest and deacon:

Munda cor meum, ac labia
mea, omnipotens Deus, qui
labia Isaiz Prophet calculo
mundasti ignito: ita me tua
grata miseratione _dignare
‘mundare, ut sanctum Evangelium fuum digne valeam
nuntiare. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Dominus sit in corde meo,
et in labiis meis: ut digne
et
mmpctentex
annuntiem
Evangelium suum: In nomine
Patris,

Sancti.
You

et

Filii,

Amen.

will

et

stand

Spiritus

during

Alas | these ears of mine are
but too often defiled with the
world’s_vain words: cleanse
them, O Lord, that so I may
hear ‘the words of eternal life,
and treasure them in my heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Amen.
Grant to thy ministers thy
grace, that they may faithfully
explain the law; that so all,
both pastors and flock, may be
united to thee for ever.

the

Gospel,

as though

Amen,

you

were waiting the orders of your Lord; and at the commencement make the sign of the cross on your fore-

head, lips, and breast; and then listen to every word
of the priest or deacon. Let your heart be ready and
obedient.
‘ While my beloved was speaking,” says the
Spouse in the Canticle, ‘my soul melted within me.*
If you have not such love as this, have at least the
humble submission of Samuel, and say:
Speak, Lord |
thy servant heareth.”?
After the Gospel, if the priest says the Symbol of
Faith, the Credo, you will say it with him. Faith is
that gift of God without which we cannot please him.
It is Faith that initiates us into (ne sublime Easter
Mysteries, which divinize our whole life, and put us in
possession of the good things of eternity. Like the holy

women at the Sepulchre, let us believe with a lively
and simple faith. Let us not wait for experience, as
i Cantv6
* 1 Kings il 10,

52

Thomas

PASCHAL

TIME

did; for our Lord has said:- ‘ Blessed are they

that have not seen and have believed.
say with the Catholic Church our Mother:
THE NICENE CREED

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem
coeli et terrm, _visibilium
omnium et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum
Jesum Christum, Filium Dei
unigenitum.
Et ex Patre
natum ante_omnia scula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de
lumine, Deum verum de Deo
vero. Genitum non factum,
consubstantialem Patri, per
quem omnia facta sunt. Qui
propter _nos homines, et
propter nostram salutem, descendit de ccelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto,
ex Maria Virgine; ET HOMO
FACTUS EST. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio
Pilato, passus, et sepultus est.
Et resumrexit tertia die,
secundum Scripturas,
Et
ascendit in ceelum; sedet ad
dexteram Patris.
Et iterum
venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus
regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum,
Dominum et vivificantem,
ui ex Patre Filioque proceit. Qui cum Patre et Filio
simul “adoratur, et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per
Prophetas. Et unam sanctam Catholicam et Apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor
unum Baptisma in remissio-

Let us, then,

1 believe in one God, the
Father Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth, and of all
things visible and invisible,
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God.
And born of the Father beforo
all ages; God of God, light of
light; true God of true God.
Begotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father, by
whom all things were made.
Who for us men, and for our
salvation, came down from
heaven. 'And became incarnate
by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin
Mary; AND WAS MADE MAN.
He was crucified also for us
under Pontius_Pilate, suffered,
and was buried. And the third
day he tose again, according to
the Scriptures. And ascended
into heaven, sitteth at the right
hand of the Father. And he is
to_come again with glory, to
judge the living and the dead;
of whose kingdom there shall be
no end.
And in rhe Holy Ghost, the
Lord and giver of life, who
proceedeth from the Father and
the Son. Who together with the
Father and the Som, is adored
and glorified ; who spoke by the
Prophets. And one holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church. 1 confess
one Baptism for the remission
of sins. And I expect the resurnem peccatorum. Et exspecto rection of the dead, and the life
resurrectionem mortuorum, et of the world to come.
Amen,
vitam venturi szculi. Amen.
3 St Jobn xx 29.

THE ORDINARY

OF THE

MASS

53

The priest and the people should by this time have
their hearts ready: it is time to prepare the offering

itself.

And

here we come

to the second

part of the

holy Mass, called the Oblation, and immediately following that which was called the Mass of Catechumens,
on account of its being formerly the only part at which
the candidates for baptism had a right to be present.

See, then, dear Christians ! bread and wine are about

to be offered.to God, as being the noblest of inanimate

creatures, since they are made

man;
what

for the nourishment

of

and even that is only a poor material image of
they are destined to become in our Christian

Sacrifice.

Their substance will soon give place to God

himself, and of themselves nothing will remain but
the appearances. Happy creatures, thus to yield up
their own being, that God may take its place ! We, too,
are

to

undergo

a like

transformation,

when,

as

the

Apostle expresses it, ‘ that which is mortal shall put
on immortality.”t Until that happy change shall be

realized, let us offer ourselves to God as often as we
see the bread and wine presented to him in the holy
Sacrifice; and let us glorify him, who, by assuming our

human

nature.’”?

nature, has made us ‘ partakers of the divine

The priest again turns to the people with the usual
salutation, as though he wquld warn them to redouble
their attention. Let us read the Offertory with him,
and when he offers the Host to God let us unite with
him in saying:

Suscipe,

sancte

Pater,

omnipotens’
zterne
Deus,
hanc immaculatam hostiam,

quam ego indignus famulus
tuus offero tibi Deo meo vivo
et vero, pro innumerabilibus
peccatis et offensionibus et
negligentiis meis, et pro omnibus circumstantibus, sed et
Pro omnibus fidelibus chri1 Corxvsy

All that we have, O Lord,
comes from thee, and belongs
to thee; it is just, therefore, that
we return it unto thee.
But
how wonderful art thou in the
inventions of thy immense love |
This bread which we are offering
to thee is to give place, in a
few moments, to the sacred
Body of Jesus. We beseech
taStPetis

PASCHAL TIME

54

stianis vivis atque defunctis;
ut mihi et illis proficiat ad

thee, receive, together with this
oblation, our hearts, which long

Amen.

live their own life of self.

salutem

in vitam

zternam.

to live by thee, and to cease to

‘When the priest puts the wine into the chalice, and
then mingles with it a drop of water, let your thoughts
turn to the divine mystery of the Incarnation, which is

the source of our hope and our salvation, and say:
Deus qui humanz _subO Lord Jesus, who art the

stantie dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti, et mirabilius
reformasti: da nobis per hujus
aque et vini mysterium, ejus
divinitatis esse consortes, q
bhumanitatis nostr= fieri dignatus est particeps, Jesus
Christus Filius tuus Dominus
noster: qui tecum vivit et
regnat_in unitate Spiritus
Sancti Deus, per omnia szcula
seculorum. Amen,

true Vine, ‘and whose Blood,
like a generous wine, has been
poured forth under the pressure
of the cross ! thou hast deigned
to unite thy divine nature to
our weak humanity, which is
signified by this drop of water.
Oh! comé and make us partakers of thy divinity, by
showing thyself to us in thy
sweet and wondrous visit.

The priest then offers the mixture of wine and water,
beseeching God graciously to accept this oblation, which

is so soon to be changed into the reality of which it
Meanwhile say, in union with

is now but the figure.
the priest:

Offerimus _tibi, Domine,
calicem salutaris, tuam deprecantes clementiam: ut in
conspectu divinz Majestatis
tux, pro nostra et totius
mundi salute, cum odore
suavitatis ascendat. Amen.

Graciously accept these gifts,
O sovereign Creator of all things.
Let them be fitted for the divine
transformation, which will make
them, from being mere offerings
of created things, the instrument
of the world’s salvation.

After having thus held up the sacred gifts towards
heaven, the priest bows down: let us also humble oursclves, and say:

In spiritu

humilitatis,

et

in animo contrito suscipiamur a te, Domine: et sic fiat
sacrificium nostrum in_conspectu tuo hodie, ut placeat
tibi, Domine Deus.

Though daring, as we do, to
approach thy aitar, O Lord,
we cannot forget that we are
sinners. Have mercy on us,
and delay not to send us thy
Son, who is our saving Host.

THE ORDINARY

OF THE MASS
55
Let us next invoke the Holy Ghost, whose operation
is about to produce on the altar the presence of the
Son of God, asit did in the womb of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, in the divine mystery of the Incarnation:

Veni, Sanctificator, omnipotens zterne Deus, et benedic hoc_sacrificium tuo
sancto nomini preparatum.

Come, O Divine Spirit, make
fruitful the offering which is
upon the altar, and produce in
our hearts him whom they desire.

1f it be a High Mass, the priest, before proceeding any
further with the Sacrifice, takes the thurible a second

time.

He first incenses the bread and wine which have

been just offered, and then the altar itself; hereby
inviting the faithful to make their prayer, which is
signified by the incense, more and more fervent the

nearer the solemn moment approaches.
But the thought of his own unworthiness becomes
more intense than ever in the heart of the priest. The
public confession, which he made at the foot of the
altar, is not enough;

he would

now

at the

altar itself

express to the people, in the language of a solemn rite,
how

far he

knows

himself

to be

from

that

spotless

sanctity wherewith he should approach to God.
washes his hands. Our hands signify our works;

He
and

the priest, though by his priesthood he bear the office
of Jesus Christ, is, by his works, but man. Seeing your
father thus humble himself, do you also make an act
of humility, and say with him these verses of the Psalm:
Lavabo

inter

PSALM 25
innocentes

manus meas: et circumdabo
altare tuum, Domine.
Ut audiam vocem laudis:
et enarrem universa mirabilia
tua.
Domine, dilexi decorem
domus tuw, et locum habitationis glorie tuz.
Ne perdas cum impils,
Deus, animam meam, et cum
viris sanguinum vitam meam.

1, too, would wash my hands,

0 Lord, and become like unto
those who are innocent, that so
1 may be worthy to come near
thy altar, and hear thy sacred
Canticles, ‘and then go and
proclaim to the world the wonders of thy goodness. I love
the beauty of thy House, which
thou art about to make the
dwelling-place of thy glory.
Leave me not, O God, in the

56

PASCHAL

In quorum manibus ini-

quitates sunt: dextera eorum
repleta est muneribus.

Ego autem in innocentia
mea ingressus sum: redime
me, et miserere mei.
Pes meus stetit in directo:
in ecclesiis benedicam te,
Domine.
Gloria_Patri, et Filio, et
Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et
nunc, et semper, et in szcula
szculorum. Amen.

TIME

midst

of them

priest,

taking

end.

encouragement

humility he has just made,
altar, and bows down full
of God to receive graciously
to be offered to him, and
which it is offered. Let us

Suscipe, sancta Trinitas,
hanc_oblationem, quam tibi
offerimus ob memoriam Passionis, Resurrectionis, et Ascensionis Jesu Christi Domini nostri: et in honorem
beat Marim semper Virginis,
et beati Joannis Baptistz, et
sanctorum Apostolorum Petri
et Pauli, et istorum, et
omnium Sanctorum: ut illis
proficiat ad_honorem, nobis
autem ad salutem: et illi pro
nobis intercedere dignentur
in_ccelis, quorum memoriam
agimus in terris. Per eumdem Christum
Dominum
nostrum. Amen.

are enemies

both to thee and me. Thy
mercy having separated me
from them, I entered on the
path of innocence, and was
restored to thy grace; but have
pity on my weakness still;
redeem me yet more, thou who
hast so mercifully brought me
back to the right path. In the
midst of these thy faithful
people, I give thee thanks.
Glory be to the Father, and to
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world
without

The

that

Amen.

from

the

act

of

returns to the middle of the
of respectful awe, begging
the Sacrifice which is about
expresses the intentions for
do the same.

O Holy Trinity, graciously
accept the Sacrifice we have
begun. We offer it in remembrance of the Passion, Resurrection, and_Ascension of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Permit thy
Church to join with this intention that of honouring the everglorious Virgin Mary, the blessed
Baptist John, the holy Apostles
Peter and Paul, the Martyrs
whose relics lie here under our
altar awaiting their resurrection,
and the Saints whose memory
we this day celebrate. Increase
the glory they are enjoying,
and receive the prayers they
address to thee for us.

The priest again turns to the people; it is for the
last time before the sacred Mysteries are accomplished.
He feels anxious to excite the fervour of the people.

THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

57

Neither does the thought of his own unworthiness leave
him; and before entering the cloud

with the Lord, he

seeks support in the prayers of his brethren who are
present. He says to them:

Orate, fratres: ut meum
ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum
Patrem omnipotentem.

_ Brethren, pray that my Sacrifice, whichis yours also, may be
acceptable
to God, our Almighty
Father.

This request made, he turns again
you will see his face no more until
shall have come down from heaven
altar. Assure the priest that he has
say to him:
Suscipiat Dominus sacriMay our
ficium

de

manibus

tuis,

ad

laudem et gloriam nominis
sui, ad utilitatem quoque

to the altar, and
our Lord himself
upon that same
your prayers, and

Lord accept this
Sacrifice at thy hands, to the
praise and glory of his name,
and for our benefit and that of

nostram, totiusque Ecclesiz his holy Church throughout the
suz sanctz.
world.
Here the priest recites the prayers called the Secrets,

in which he presents the petition of the whole Church
for God’s acceptance of the Sacrifice, and then immediately begins to fulfil that great duty of religion, thanksgiving.

So far he has adored

God

and has sued for

mercy; he has still to give thanks for the blessings
bestowed on us by the bounty of our heavenly Father,
the chief of which, during this season, is his gracious
fulfilment of the promise he made after the sin of our
first parents: he fulfilled it by the Resurrection of the
Lamb, who thereby conquered death. The priest, in
the name of the
Church, is about to give expression
to the gratitude of all mankind. In order to excite
the faithful to that intensity of gratitude which is
due to God for all his glfts, he interrupts his own
and their silent prayer by terminating it aloud,

saying:

Per omnia

rum.

szcula

szculo-

For gver and ever.

PASCHAL TIME

58

In the same
continues:

feeling, answer your Amen!

¥. Dominus vobiscum.
R, Et cum spiritu tuo.
¥. Sursum corda !

Then he

Y. The Lord be with you.
7. And with thy spirit.
¥. Lift up your hearts.

Let your response be sincere.

®. Habemus ad Dominum.

R We have them fixed on
God.

And when he adds:

¥. Gratias agamus Domino
Deo nostro.

¥. Let us give thanks to the
Lord our God.

Answer him with all the earnestness of your soul.

K. Dignum et justum est.
Then

Ry. Itis meet and just.

the Priest:

THE PREFACE!

Vere dignum et justum est,
2quum et salutare, te quidem
Domine omni tempore, sed
in hoc potissimum gloriosius
pradicare, com Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus.
Ipse enim verus est Agnus,
qui abstulit peccata mundi.
Qui mortem nostram moriendo destruxit, et vitam
resurgendo reparavit. Et
ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Do‘minationibus, cumque omni
militia caelestis exercitus,
hymnum gloria tue canimus,
sine fine dicentes:
Herc

himself

unite with
with

It is truly meet and just,
right and available to salvation,
to praise thee, O Lord, at all
times, but chiefly at this time,
when Christ our Passover was
sacrificed for us. For he is the
true Lamb, who hath taken
away the sins of the world.
Who, by dying, hath destroyed
our death, and by rising again,
hath restored us to life.
And
therefore with the Angels and
Archangels, with the Thrones
and Dominations, and with all
the heavenly host, we sing a
hymn to thy glory, saying unceasingly:

the priest, who on his part unites

the blessed Spirits in giving

thanks

to

God for the unspeakable Gift : bow down and say:
i The Prefaces for the Ascension, Pentecost, the Annunciation, and the
Solemaity of St Joseph, are given in the Masses for those reasts.

59

OF THE MASS

THE ORDINARY

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
of hosts |
Dominus Deus sabaoth !
Heaven and carth are full of
Pleni sunt ceeli et terra
thy glory.
gloria tua.
Hosanna in the highest !
Hosanna in excelsis !
Blessed be the Saviour who is
Benedictus qui venit in
coming to us in the name of the
nomine Domini.
Lord who sends him.
Hosanna be to him in the
Hosanna in excelsis,
highest |
After these words commences the Canmon, that
mysterious prayer, in the midst of which heaven bows
down to earth, and God descends unto us. The voice
of

the

priest

altar all is
distractions
soul.
Let
in the holy

is no

longer

heard;

yea,

even

at

the

silence. Let a profound respect stay all
and keep our senses in submission to the
us fix our eyes on what the priest does
place.
THE CANON

OF THE MASS

In this mysterious colloquy with the great God of
heaven and earth, the first prayer of the sacrificing
priest is for the Catholic Church, his and our
mother.

Te igitur, clementissime
Pater, per Jesum Christum
Filium tuum Dominum nostrum, supplices rogamus ac
petimus, uti accepta habeas,
et benedicas hmc dona, hac
munera, hzc sancta_sacrificia illibata, in primis que
tibi offerimus pro Ecclesia
tua sancta Catholica: quam
pacificare, custodire, adunare,
et regere digneris toto orbe
terrarum, una cum famulo
tuo Papa nostro N., et Antistite nostro N., et omnibus
orthodoxis,
atque
catholice
et apostolic fidei cultoribus.

O God who manifestest thyself unto us by means of the
mysteries which thou hast entrusted to thy holy Church, our
mother; we beseech thee, by the
merits of this sacrifice, that
thou wouldst remove all those
hindrances which oppose her
during her pilgrimage in this
world. Give her peace and
unity. Do thou thyself guide
our holy Father the Pope, thy
Vicar on earth. Direct thou
our bishop, who is our sacred
link of unity; and watch over
all the orthodox children of
the Catholic Apostolic Roman
Church.

PASCHAL

60

TIME

Here pray, together with the priest, for those whose
interests should be dearest to you.

Memento, Domine, famulorum famularumque tuarum
N. et N. et omnium circumstantium, quorum tibi fides
cognita est, et nota devotio:
quibus tibi offerimus, vel
ui tibi offerunt hoc sacricium laudis, pro se, suisque
omnibus, pro redemptionc
animarum suarum, pro spe
salutis et incolumitatis suz;
tibique _reddunt vota sua
@terno Deo vivo et vero.

Permit me, O God, to intercede with thee in more earnest
prayer for those for whom thou
knowest that I have a special
obligation to pray: . . . Pour
down thy blessings upon them.
Let them partake of the fruits
of this divine Sacrifice, which is
offered unto thee in the name
of all mankind. Visit them by
thy grace, pardon them their
sins, grant them the blessings
of this present life and of that
which is eternal.

Here let us commemorate the Saints: they are that
portion of the Body of Jesus Christ which is called the
Church Triumphant.

Communicantes, et me‘moriam venerantes, in primis
glorios®
semper Virginis
Mariz, Genitricis Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi: sed
et beatorum Apostolorum ac
Martyrum tuorum, Petri et
Pauli, Andrew, Jacobi, Joan
nis, Thoma, Jacobi, = Phi
lippi, Bartholomai, Matthzwi,
Simonis, et Thaddi: Lini,
Cleti, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii,
riani, Laurent
Chrysogoni, Joannis et Pauli,
Cosm=z et Damiani, et
omnium sanctorum tuorum,
quorum meritis precibusque
concedas, ut in omnibus protectionis tuz muniamur auxilio. Per eumdem Christum
Dominum nostrum. Amen.
The

with

priest, who

his hands

But the offering of this Sacrifice, O my God, does not unite
us with those only of our brethren who are still in this transient
life of trial: it brings us closer
to those also who are already
in possession of heaven. Therefore it is, that we wish to
honour by it the memory of the
glorious and ever-Virgin Mary,
of whom Jesus was born to us:
of the Apostles, Confessors,
Virgins, and of all the Saints;
that so they may assist us by
their powerful intercession, to
become worthy to contemplate
thee, as they now do, in the
mansion of thy glory.

up to this time has been praying

extended,

now

joins

them,

and

holds

them over the bread and wine, as the high priest of

THE ORDINARY

OF THE MASS

61

the Old Law did over the figurative victim: he thus
expresses his intention of bringing these gifts more
closely under the notice of the divine majesty, and of
marking them as the material offering whereby we
profess our dependence, and which is, in a few instants,
to yield #ts place to the living Host, upon whom are
laid all our iniquities.

Hanc igitur oblationem
servitutis nostra, sed et cuncte familiz tuw, quesumus
Domine, ut placatus accipias:
diesque nostros in tua pace
disponas, atque ab aterna
damnatione nos eripi, et in
electorum
tuorum _jubeas
grege numerari. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen.
Quam oblationem tu Deus
in omnibus, quasumus, benedictam, adscriptam, ratam,
rationabilem, acceptabilem:
que facere digneris; ut nobis
Corpus_et Sanguis fiat dilectissimi Filii tui Domini nostri
Jesu Christi.

Vouchsafe, O God, to accept
this offering which this thy
assembled family presents to
thee as the homage of its most
happy servitude. In return,
give us peace, save us from thy
wrath and number us among
the elect, through him who is
coming to us—thy Son our
Saviour.
Vea, Lord, this is the moment
when this bread is to become his
sacred Body, which is our food;
and this wine is to be changed
into his Blood, which is our
drink. Ah! delay no longer,
but send to us this divine Son
our Saviour |

And here the priest ceases to act as man; he now
becomes more than a mere minister of the Church.
His word becomes that of Jesus Christ, with all its
power and efficacy. Prostrate yourself in profound
adoration;

for God

himself

is about

our altar, coming down from heaven.

to descend

upon

Qui pridie quam pateretur,
What, O God of heaven and
acdepit panem in sanctas ac earth, my Jesus, the long exvenerabiles manus suas: et pected Messias, what else can
elevatis oculis in ceelum, ad te I do at this solemn moment but
Deum Patrem suum omniadore thee, in silence as my
potentem, tibi gratias agens, sovereign Master, and open my
benedixit, fregit, deditque whole heart to thee, as to its
discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite, et manducate ex hoc

omnes.

Hoc

PUS MEUM.

gsT ENiM Cor-

dearest King! Come,
Lord Jesus, come |

then,

PASCHAL TIME

62
The divine Lamb

is now lying on our altar!

and love be to him for ever! But
may be immolated.
Hence, the
minister of the will of the Most
pronounces over the chalice those
will

produce

the

great

mystical

he is
priest,
High,
sacred

come that he
who is the
immediately
words which

immolation,

by

the

to exist;

the

separation of the Victim’s Body and Blood.
stances

of bread

and

wine have

ceased

Glory

The sub-

species alone are left, veiling, as it were, the Body and
Blood,

God

lest fear should

keep us from a mystery which

gives us in order to give us confidence.

Let us

associate ourselves to the angels, who look upon this
deepest wonder with awe and trembling.

Simili modo postquam cce-

natum est, accipiens et hunc
praclarum Calicem in sanctas
ac venerabiles
manus suas:
item tibi gratias agens, benedixit, deditque discipulis suis,
dicens: Accipite et bibite ex
eo omnes, Hic EST ENIM
CALIX SANGUINIS MEI NOVI
ET ETERNI TESTAMENTI: MYSTERIUM FIDEL: QUI PRO VOBIS
ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR
IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.
Hzc quotiescumque feceritis,
in mei memoriam facietis.

O Precious Blood ! thou price
of my salvation | I adore thee |
Wash away my sins, and give
me a purity above the whiteness
of snow. Lamb ever slain, yet
ever living, thou comest to take
away the sins of the world.
Come also and reign in me by
thy power and by thy love |

The priest is now face to face
raises his hands towards heaven,
Father that the oblation, now on
an earthly offering, but the Body
Person, of his divine Son.

Unde et memores, Domine,
nos servi tui, sed et plebs tua
sancta, ejusdem Christi Filii
tui Domini nostri tam beatz
Passionis, necnon et ab i
feris Resurrectionis, sed et
ccelos gloriosz Ascensionis:
offerimus praclarz majestati
tuz de tuis donis ac datis

with God.
and tells our
the altar, is
and Blood,

He again
heavenly
no longer
the whole

Father of infinite holiness, the
Host so long expected is here
before theel Behold this thy
eternal Son, who suffered a
bitter passion, rose again with
glory from ‘the grave, and
ascended _triumphantly into
heaven. Heis thy Son; but he
is also our Host, Host pure and

THE ORDINARY

OF THE MASS

63
Hostiam _puram, Hostiam spotless—our Meat and Drink
of everlasting life.
sanctam, Hostiam immaculatam:

Panem

mternz,

perpetuz.

et

sanctum

Calicem

vitz

salutis

Supra quz propitio ac
sereno vulto Tespicere digneris: et accepta habere,
sicuti accepta habere dignatus es munera pueri tui justi
Abel, et sacrificium Patriarcha nostri Abrahz, et quod
tibi obtulit summus Sacerdos
tuus_Melchisedech, sanctum
sacrificium, immaculatam
hostiam.

Heretofore thou didst accept
the sacrifice of the innocent
lambs offered to thee by Abel;
and the sacrifice which Abra’
ham made thee of his son
Tsaac, who, though immolated,
yet lived; and, lastly, the
sacrifice which Melchisedech presented thee of bread and wine,
Receive our Sacrifice which is
above all those others. It is
the Lamb of whom all others
could be but figures; it is the
undying Victim; it is the Body
of thy Son, who is the Bread
of Life, and his Blood, which,
whilst a Drink of immortality
for us, is a tribute adequate to
thy glory.

The priest bows down to the altar, and kisses it as

the throne of love on which is seated the Saviour of
men.

Supplices te rogamus, omnipotens Deus: jube hazc
perferri per manus sancti
angeli tui in sublime altare
tuum, in conspectu divina
majestatis tue; ut quotquot
ex hac altaris participatione,
sacrosanctum Filii tui Corpus et Sanguinem sumpserimus, omni benedictione ccelesti et gratia repleamur.
Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostram. Amen.

But, O God of infinite power,
these sacred gifts are not only
on this altar here below; they
are also on that sublime altar
of heaven, which is before the
throne of thy divine majesty.
These two altars are but one and
the same, on which is accomplished the great mystery of thy
glory and our salvation. Vouchsafe to make us partakers of the
Body and Blood of the august
Victim from whom flow every
grace and blessing.

Nor is the moment less favourable for making sup-

plication for the Church

Sufiering.

Let us, therefore,

ask the divine Liberator who has come down among

us that he mercifully visit by a ray of his consoling

64

PASCHAL TIME

light the dark abode of Purgatory and permit his
Blood to flow, as a stream of mercy, from this our altar,
and refresh the panting captives there. Let us pray
expressly for those among them who have a claim on
our suffrages.

Memento etiam, Domine,
famularumque
famulorum
tuarum N. et N, qui_nos
preecesserunt cum signo fidei,
et dormiunt in somno_pacis.
Ipsis Domine, et omnibus in
Christo_quiescentibus, locum
refrigerii, lucis et pacis, ut
indulgeas, deprecamur. ~Per
eumdem Christum Dominum
nostrum. Amen.

Dear Jesus | let the happiness
of this thy visit extend to every
portion of thy Church. Thy face
gladdens the elect in the holy
city; even our mortal eyes can
see beneath the veil of our delighted faith; ah | hide not thyself from those brethren of ours
who are imprisoned in the place
of expiation. Be thou refreshment to them in their flames,
light in their darkness, and peace
in their agonies of torment.

This duty of charity fulfilled, let us pray for ourselves,
sinners, alas ! who profit so little by the visit which our
Saviour pays us. Let us, together with the priest,
strike our breast, saying:

Nobis quoque peccatoribus
famulis_tuis, de multitudine
miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et
societatem donare digneris
cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et
Martyribus: cum _Joanne,
Stephano, Mathia, Barnaba,
Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino, Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete,
Cacilia, Anastasia, et omnibus Sanctis tuis; intra quorum nos consortium, non
astimator meriti, sed veniz,
uesumus, largitor admitte.
er Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem hwc omnia,
Domine, semper bona creas,
sanctificas, vivificas, benedicis, et prastas nobis: per
ipsum, et cum ipso et in

Alas | we are poor sinners, O
God of all sanctity | yet do we
hope that thy infinite mercy will
grant us to sharein thy kingdom,
not, indeed, by reason of our
works, which deserve little else
than punishment, but because of
the merits of this Sacrifice, which
we are offering to thee. Remember, too, the merits of thy
holy Apostles, of thy holy
Martyrs, of thy holy Virgins,
and of all thy Saints. Grant
us, by their intercession, grace
in this world, and glory eternal
in the next: which we ask of
thee, in_the name of our Lord
Jesus_Christ, thy Son. It is
by him thou bestowest upon
us thy blessings of life and
sanctification; and by him also,
with him, and in him, in the

THE ORDINARY

OF THE MASS

65

ipso, est tibi Deo Patri om- unity of the Holy Ghost, may
nipotenti, in unitate Spiri- honour and glory be to thee |
tus Sancti, omnis honor et
gloria.

While saying these last few words, the priest has
taken up the sacred Host, which was on the altar; he
has held it over the chalice, thus reuniting the Body

and Blood of the divine Victim, in order to show that

he is now immortal.

Host,

he

Then raising up both chalice and

offers to God

the most

noble

and

homage which the divine majesty could receive.

This

solemn

and

mysterious

rite ends

perfect

the Canon.

The silence of the Mysteries is broken. The priest
concludes his long prayers, by saying aloud, and so
giving the faithful the opportunity of expressing their

desire that his supplications be granted:

Per omnia
lorum.

szcula

szcu-

For ever and ever,

Answer him with faith, and in a sentiment of union
with your holy mother the Church:

Amen,

Amen | Ibelieve the mystery
which has just been accomplished. I unite myself to the
offering which has been made, and

to the petitions of the Church.

It is time to recite the Prayer which our Saviour
himself has taught us. Let it ascend to heaven

together with the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of
Jesus Christ.

How

could it be otherwise

than heard,

when he himself who made it for us is in our very hands
now while wesay it ? As this prayer belongs in common

to all the children of God, the priest recites it aloud,
and begins by inviting us all to join in it.
'OREMUS.

LET

US

PRAY.

salutaribus moHaving been taught by a
niti, et divina institutione saving precept, and following
the form given us by a divine
formati, audemus dicere:
instruction, we thus presume
to speak:
5

66

PASCHAL

TIME

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who artin heaven,
hallowed be thy name: thy
kingdom come ; thy will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass
against us; and lead us not into
timus debitoribus nostris: et temptation.
Pater noster, qui es in
ccelis, sanctificetur nomen
tuum: adveniat regnum tuum :
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in
ceelo, et in terra. Panem
nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et dimitte nobis debita postra, sicut et nos dimitne nos inducasin tentationem.

Let us answer with a deep feeling of our misery:
Sed libera nos a malo.

But deliver us from evil.

The priest falls once more into the silenceof the holy

Mysteries. His first word
your last petition—deliver
forms his own next prayer:
thing more needed ? Ewil
and the Lamb on our altar

and deliver us from it.

Libera nos, quasumus, Domine, ab omnibus malis,
prasteritis,
prasentibus et
futuris: ef, intercedente beata
et gloriosa semper Virgine
Dei genitrice Maria, cum
beatis Apostolis tuis Petro
et Paulo, atque Andrea, et
omnibus Sanctis, da propitius
pacem in_ diebus nostris: ut
ope misericordiz tuz adjuti,
et a_peccato simus semper
liberi, et ab omni perturbatione securi. Per eumdem
Dominum _nostrum Jesum
Christum_Filium tuum, qui
tecum vivit et regnat in
unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus.

is an affectionate Amen to
us from evil—on which he
and could he pray for anysurrounds us everywhere,
has been sent to expiate it

How many, O Lord, are the
evils which beset us! Evils
past, which are the wounds left
on thesoul by her sins, and which
strengthen her wicked propensities. Evils present, that is,
the sins now at this very time
upon our soul, the weakness of
this poor soul, and the temptations which molest her. There
are also future evils, that is,
the chastisement which our sins
deserve from the hands of thy
justice. In presence of this Host
of our salvation, we beseech thee,
0 Lord, to deliver us from ali
these evils, and to accept in our
favour the intercession of Ma
the Mother of Jesus, of thy holy
Apostles Peter and Paul and
Andrew. Liberate us, break our
chains, give us peace. Through
Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with
thee liveth and reigneth God.

THE

ORDINARY

OF THE MASS

67

The priest is anxious to announce the peace which
he has asked and obtained; he therefore finishes his
prayer aloud, saying:
Per
lorum.

omnia

szcula

sacu-

‘World without end.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

Then he says:

Pax Domini
vobiscum.

sit semper

May the peace of our Lord
be ever with you.

To this paternal wish reply:

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
K. And with thy spirit.
The Mystery is drawing to a close; God is about to
be united with man, and man with God, by means of
Communion.
But first, an imposing and sublime rite
takes place at the altar. So far the priest has announced
the death of Jesus; it is time to proclaim his Resurrec-

tion. To this end, he reverently breaks the sacred
Host; and having divided it into three parts, he puts
one into the chalice, thus reuniting the Body and Blood
of the immortal Victim. Do you adore and say:
Hzc commixtio et consecratio Corporis et Sanguinis
Domini nostri Jesu Christi

Glory be to thee, O Saviour
of the world, who didst in thy
Passion permit
thy precious

vitam @ternam.

sacred Body,
them again

fiat accipientibus

nobis in

Amen.

Blood to be separated from thy

afterwards uniting
together by thy

divine power.
Offer now your prayer to the ever-living Lamb, whom

St John saw on the Altar of Heaven ‘standing as if
slain:’* say to this your Lord and King, who has taken
upon himself all our iniquities, in order to wash them

away by his Blood :
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec-

cata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Lamb of God,
away the sins of
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God,
away the sins of

have mercy on us.

* Apoc.
v 6.

who
the
who
the

takest
world,
takest
world,

PASCHAL TIME

68

Lamb of God, who takest
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pa- away the sins of the world, give
us peace.
cem.
Peace

is the grand

object

of our Saviour’s

coming

into the world: He is the
Prince of Peace.” The divine
Sacrament of the Eucharist ought therefore to be the
mystery of peace, and the bond of Catholic unity; for
as the Apostle says, ‘ all we who partake of one Bread,
are all one Bread and one Body.”
It is on this account
that the priest, now that he is on the point of receiving,
in Communion, the sacred Host, prays that fraternal

peace

may

be preserved

in the Church,

and

more

especially in this portion of it which is assembled round
the altar. Pray with him, and for the same blessing:

Domine Jesu Christe, qui
dixisti Apostolis_tuis: Pacem relinquo_vobis, pacem
meam do vobis: ne respicias
peccata mea, sed fidem Ecclesiz tuz: eamque secundum voluntatem tuam pacificare et coadunare digneris.
Qui vivis et regnas Deus, per
omnia swzcula saculorum.
Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst
to thy Apostles, ‘my peace I
leave with you, my peace I give
unto you:" regard not my sins,
but the faith of thy Church, and
grant her that peace and unity
which is according to thy will.
Who livest and reignest God for
ever and ever. Amen.

If it be a High Mass, the priest here gives the kiss of
ce to the deacon,

who gives it to the sub-deacon,

and he to the choir. During this ceremony, you should
excite within yourself feelings of Christian charity, and
pardon your enemies, if you have any. Then continue
to pray with the priest:

Domine Jesu Christe, Fili
Dei vivi, qui ex voluntate
Patris, cooperante Spiritu
Sancto, per mortem tuam
mundum ~ vivificasti: libera
me per hoc sacrosanctum
Corpus et Sanguinem tuum,
ab_ omnibus iniquitatibus
meis, et universis malis, et

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the
living_God, who, according to
the will of thy Father, through
the co-operation of the Holy
Ghost, hast by thy death given
life to the world; deliver me by
this thy most sacred Body and
Blood from all my iniquities,
and from all evils; and make me

frconxiz

THE

ORDINARY

fac me tuis semper inhwrere
mandatis, et a te nunquam
separari permittas. Qui cum
codem Deo Patre et Spiritu
Sancto vivis et regnas Deus
in szcula szculorum. Amen.

69

OF THE MASS

always adhere to thy commandments, and never suffer me to be
separated from thee, who with
the same God the Father and
the Holy Ghost, livest and
reignest God for ever and ever.
Amen.

If you are going to Communion at this Mass, say the
following prayer; otherwise prepare yourself to make
a spiritual Communion :

Perceptio Corporis tui, Domine Jesu Christe, quod ego
indignus sumere prasumo, non
mihi proveniat in judicium
et condemnationem: sed pro
tua pietate prosit mihi ad
tutamentum mentis et corporis, et ad medelam percipiendam. Qui_vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre, in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per
omnia szcula szculorum.
Amen.

‘When

Let not the participation of
thy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ,
which I, though unworthy, presume to receive, turn to my
judgement and condemnation;
but through thy mercy may it
be a safeguard and remedy both
to my soul and body. Who
with God the Father in the unity
of the Holy Ghost livest and
reignest God for ever and ever.
Amen.

the priest takes the Host into his hands,

in

order to receive it in Communion, say:

Come, my dear Jesus, come |

Panem colestem accipiam,
et nomen Domini invocabo.
When

he strikes his breast, confessing his unworthi-

ness, say thrice with him these words, and in the same

disposition

as the centurion

used them:
Domine, non sum dignus
ut intres sub tectum meum:

sed

tantum

dic

verbo,

sanabitur anima mea.

et

of the Gospel,

who

first

Lord, I am not worthy thou
shouldst enter under my roof:
say

it

only

with

one

word

of

thine, and my soul will be healed.

‘While the priest receives the sacred Host, if you
also are to communicate, adore profoundly your God,
who is ready to take up his abode within you, and
again say to him with the spouse: ‘ Come, Lord Jesus,
come !

PASCHAL

70

TIME

But should you not be going to receive sacramentally,

Adore Jesus Christ who
make a spiritual Communion.
thus visits your soul by his grace, and say to him:

Corpus Domini nostri Jesu

Christi
meam
Amen.

custodiat
in vitam

animam
=zternam.

Then the priest
and says:

takes

I give fhee, O Jesus, this
heart of mine, that thou mayest
dwell in it, and do with me what
thou wilt.

the chalice, in thanksgiving,

Quid retribuam Domino
‘What return shall I make to
pro _omnibus, que retribuit the Lord for all he hath given
mihi ? Calicem salutaris ac- tome? I will take the Chalice
cipiam, et nomen Domini in- of salvation, and will call upon
vocabo. Laudans_ invocabo the name of the Lord. Praising
Dominum, et ab inimicis meis I will call upon the Lord, and
T shall be saved from mine
salvus ero.
enemies.

But if you are to make a sacramental Communion,

you should, at this moment of the priest’s receiving the

Precious Blood, again adore the God who is coming to

you, and keep to your prayer: ‘ Come, Lord Jesus, come !"

If, on the contrary, you are going to communicate
only spiritually, again adore your divine Master, and
say to him:

I unite myself to thee, my
Sanguis Domini nostri Jesu
Christi _custodiat ~animam beloved Jesus | do thou unite
meam in vitam ternam. thyself to me | and never let us
Amen.
be separated.
It is here that you must approach to the altar, if you
are going to Communion. The dispositions suitable for
holy Communion during this season of Paschal Time
are given in the next chapter.
The Communion

being finished, and while the priest

is purifying the chalice the first time, say:

Quod ore sumpsimus, Domine, pura mente capiamus;
et de munere temporali fiat
nobis remedium sempiternum,

Thou hast visited me, O God,
in these days of my pilgrimage;
give me grace to treasure up the
fruits of this visit for my future
eternity.

THE

ORDINARY

OF THE

MASS

71

Whilst the priest is purifying the chalice the second

time, say:

Be thou for ever blessed, O
my Saviour, for having adquem potavi, adhwmreat vis- mitted me to the sacred mysceribus meis: et prasta ut in tery of thy Body and Blood.
me non remaneat scelerum May my heart and senses premacula, quem pura et sancta serve, by thy grace, the purity
refecerunt Sacramenta. Qui which thou hast imparted to
vivis et regnas in szcula them: and may I thus be rendered less unworthy of thy divine
szculorum. Amen.
Corpus
tuum, Domine,
quod
sumpsi et Sanguis

visit.

The

priest,

having

read

the Antiphon

called

the

Communion, which is the first part of his thanksgiving
for the favour just received from God, whereby he

has renewed his divine presence among us, turns to the
people with the usual salutation; after which he recites
the prayers called the Postcommunion, which are the
completion

of

the

thanksgiving.

You

will

join

him

here also, thanking God for the unspeakable gift he has
just lavished on you, and asking him, with most earnest
entreaty, that he will bestow upon you perseverance
in the joy of Paschal Time, and vigilance over yourself
during the whole course of this day, that so you may

keep up within you the love of that new life which
gives

Jesus.

you

a

right

to

the

company

of

our

risen

These prayers having been recited, the priest again
turns to the people, and full of joy for the immense
favour he and they have been receiving, he says:
Dominus

vobiscum.

Et cum spirita tuo.

The Lord be with you.

Answer him :

And with thy spirit.

The deacon, or, if it be not a High Mass,
himself, then says:
Ite, Missa est.

®. Deo gratias.

the priest

Go, the Mass is finished.
K. Thanks be to God.

72

PASCHAL TIME
The priest makes a last prayer, before giving you his

blessing; pray with him:

Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitas, obsequium servitutis
mez, et prasta ut sacrificium quod_oculis tuz majestatis indignus obtuli, tibi
Sit acceptabile, mihique, et
omnibus pro quibus illud
obtuli_sit, te miserante, propitiabile. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Eternal thanks be to thee, O
adorable Trinity, for the mercy
thou hast shown to me, in permitting me to assist at this
divine Sacrifice, Pardon me
the negligence and coldness
wherewith 1 have received so
great a favour, and deign to confirm the blessing, which thy
minister is about to give me in
thy Name.

The priest raises his hand, and thus blesses you:

Benedicat vos omnipotens
_May the Almighty God,
Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Spiritus Sanctus.
bless you |
K. Amen.
R. Amen.
He then concludes the Mass, by reading the first
fourteen verses of the Gospel according to St John,

which tell us of the eternity of the Word, and of the
mercy which led him to take upon himself our flesk,
and to dwell among us. The Evangelist tells us that
this divine Word,

true Light.

the Creator of light, is himself the

This Light suddenly shone

darkness of the tomb.

The Jew refused

forth from the
tosee it; the

Christian hails it with joy, for it is the Life of men.

¥. The Lord be with you.
K. And with thy spirit.

¥. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

THE

LAST

Initium sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.
Cap. I.
In principio erat Verbum,
et Verbum erat apud Deum,
et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc
erat in principio apud Deum.
Omnia per ipsum facta sunt;

GOSPEL

The

beginning of the holy
Gospel according to John.
Ch. I.
In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
The ‘same was in the beginning
with God. Al things
were madc
by
et sine ipso factum est nikil
him, and without him was

THE ORDINARY

quod factum est. In ipso
vita_erat, et vita erat lux
hominum" et lux in tenebris
lucet, et tenebrz eam non
comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen
erat Joannes. Hic venit in
testimonium, ut testimonium
perhiberet de lumine, ut
omnes crederent per iilum.
Non erat ille lux, sed ut testi‘monium perhiberet de lumine.
Erat lux vera, qu illuminat
omnem hominem venientem
in hunc mundum. In mundo
erat, et mundus per ipsum
factus est, et mundus eum
non_ cognovit. In propria
venit, et sui eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem
receperunt eum, dedit eis
potestatem filios Dei fieri, his
qui credunt in nomine ejus:
qui non ex sanguinibus, neque
ex voluntate carnis, neque
ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo
nati sunt. ET VERBUM CARO
FACTUM EST, et habitavit in
nobis: et vidimus _gloriam
ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti
a Patre, plenum gratiz et
veritatis.
K. Deo gratias.

OF THE MASS

73

made nothing that was made.
In him was life, and the life was
the light of men; and the light
shincth in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it.
There was 2 man sent from God,
whose name was John. This
man came for a witncss, to give
testimony of the light, that all
men might believe through him.
He was not the light, but was
to give testimony of the light.
That was the true light which
enlighteneth every man_ that
cometh into this world. He was
in the world, and the world was
made by him, and the world
knew him noi. He came unto
his own, and his own received
him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave
power to be made the sons of
God; to them that believe in
his name, who are born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the
flosh, nor of the will of man,
but of God. AND THE WORD
WAS MADE FLpsH, and dwelt
amongst us; and we saw his
glory as it were the glory of
the Only-Begotten of the Father,
full of grace and trath.
K. Thanksbe to God.

PASCHAL TIME

74

CHAPTER
ON

HOLY

THE

SIXTH

COMMUNION DURING
TIME

PASCHAL

N Passiontide, the Christian went to holy Communion impressed with these words of the Apostle:
‘As often as ye shall eat this Bread, and drink the
Chalice, ye shall show the death of the Lord.* He
united himself with the divine Victim immolated for
the sins of the world, and he died with his Saviour.
During Paschal Time, the heavenly Food produces its
effects

in another

manner;

it fortifies

the

life of the

soul, and gives to the body the germ of immortality.

It is true that in each season of the liturgical year this
twofold effect is produced in those who worthily receive
Communion,

namely,

immolation

and resurrection; but

as, during the days consecrated to the Passion, the
application of the mystery of immolation and sacrifice
is more direct and more in accordance with the sentiments of the communicant, so also, during Paschal Time,

the divine contact of the Body of our risen Jesus makes

us feel, in a way that Easter alone can do, that to
the holy Eucharist we owe the future resurrection of
our bodies.
Our Saviour himself teaches us this, where he says:
‘ Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are
dead. This is the Bread which cometh down from
heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not die. . . .
He that eateth my Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, hath
gverlgsting life, and I will raise him up in the last
ay.’?
\yJ'Ve shall all resume these bodies of ours on the Last
* 1 Cor. xi 26,
* St John vi 49, 50, 35,

BEFORE COMMUNION
75
Day, either for glory or punishment eternal; but he
that worthily unites himself by holy Communion
with the glorious and risen Body of the Man-God
contracts an alliance and intimacy with him which
forbid this divine Guest to leave in corruption these
members made his own by the sublime Mystery.
‘We must, therefore, approach the holy Table during
Eastertide with an ardent ambition for our resurrection,
knowing as we do that we then receive into our bodies
an element which is to preserve them even when turned
into

dust;

and

which,

moreover,

confers

on

them

a

right to the qualities of glorified bodies, whose beauty

and happiness will be like those of our Jesus, after he
had risen from the grave.

Now, if our Redeemer does all this for our bodies by

means

of holy Communion—giving

them, by it, the

pledge of immortality—what must he not do for our
souls, in order to strengthen and increase within them
that ‘new life,” that Resurrection-life, which is the
fruit of Easter,

the object of all our past efforts, the

reward of all the victories we have gained over ourselves
during the campaign of Lent ? Nay, unless this new
life be fostered by frequent Communion, it is in danger
of growing

within us.
risen

from

end,

we

weak,

perhaps

The Apostle

the

dead,

even

of becoming

now

no more;’*

tells us that ‘ Christ, having

dieth

must die no more, for we are risen with him.
must

hunger

extinct

after

the Bread

we,

then,

To this

of Heaven,

of

which our Jesus says: ‘ If any man eat of this Bread,
he shall live for ever.”
‘We offer to our readers the following Preparation for
holy Communion during Easter. There are souls that

feel the want of some such assistance as this; and, for
the same reason, we will add a form of Thanksgiving
for after Communion.
* Rom. vig.

*5t John vi 52.

76

PASCHAL
BEFORE

TIME

COMMUNION

ACT OF FAITH

0O Saviour of mankind | the magnificence of thy works shines
so brightly that we are compelled to give glory to thy name
and proclaim thee to be the Son of God. We belicved in thee,
when thou didst show thyself a weak Babe in the Crib of
Bethlehem; there was a mysterious power that attracted us,
and, with the Angels, we adored thee wrapped in thy humble
swathing-bands. When we saw thee hanging on the Cross,
outraged and blasphemed by a whole people, we still acknowledged thee to be our King, and said to thee, with the Good
Thief: * Remember us, O Lord, when thou shalt come into thy
Kingdom I’ But now that thou hast triumphed over death,
and art risen glorious from the tomb; now that the whole earth
resounds with thy praise, and the tidings of thy Resurrection
fill all nations with a gladness as fresh as though thy triumph
were but of this very year: who can refuse fo confess thy
Divinity, adore thy Mysteries, and cry out with thy disciple:
“My Lord and my God I’ Though my eyes see thee not, though
my hands caunot touch thy sacred wounds, yet do I most firmly
believe thee to be my Lord and my God. Thou hast said:
“Happy they that have not seen, and have believed:’ of these
happy belicvers I would be one, O Jesus | I confess that thou
hast verily risen, the Son of God and the Son of Man. I believe,
also, that thou art the living Bread come down from heaven
to give life to_the world, and that I am about to receive thee
into myself. Increase this my faith, O my Lord and my God |
that so I may render thee the worship thou claimest from me,
thy poor but happy creature.
ACT OF HUMILITY

O divine Conqueror of death! who could see thee in the
splendour of thy majesty, and not tremble? Before thy
Passion, thou grantedst a mere glimpse of thy glory to the
three disciples on Thabor, and they fell down as though they
were dead: and now, when the brightness of thy Resurrection
dazzles even the eyes of the Angels, thou wishest to do far more
than show thyself to me. Thou vouchsafest to come down
to my nothingness, to unite me, a weak unworthy creature,
with thyself, who art no longer in the Crib or on the Cross,
and art soon to ascend to the right hand of thy eternal Father |
Thou, the Author of light, and thyself the infinite Light, art
about to shine amidst such darkness as minel| If I refiect
upon my nothingness, this thy condescension fills me with
delighted wonder; but when I Temember that I bave been so

BEFORE COMMUNION

77

great a sinner, this union with thee overpowers me. How can
thy sovereign holiness and my sinfulness be brought thus
together ? Thine Evangelist tells me, that ‘ the Light shincth
in darkness, and the darkness doth not comprehend it,’ for the
darkness of pride ever thinks itself to be the light, and sees not
the * true Light': let it not be thus with me, my Jesus! I
humble myseif before thee; I acknowledge my misery—it is
immense; deign then, O divine Light | to pour out on me the
riches of thine infinite mercy.
ACT OF CONTRITION

O Saviour of the world | O Conqueror of death | thou art
coming to me, and I am but a sinner.
Thou willest to treat
me as thou didst thy disciples on the day of thy Resurrection.
They had basely abandoned
return to them: thou wast

thee in thy Passion, and thou didst
all affection to them; thou badest

them not fear; not a word of reproach fell from thy lips. Thou
wouldst have them learn from this thy loving forgiveness how
guilty they had been in leaving such a Master. O thou best
of masters! I, too, must learn the same lesson. But how
much more grievous my sins have been than were theirs | They
knew so little of thee when they sinned; whereas I sinned with
all the fulness of light upon me, knowing my Jesus so well.
Thy Apostles were not initiated into all thy Mysteries, when
they lost their courage; they had not as yet received the Holy
Ghost, who has been so unreservedly given to me. I will, then,
imitate them in the sorrow they felt when they found that he
whom they had offended was so deserving of their love. Yes,
I detest my sins whereby I have so cruelly wounded thy Sacred
Heart; I acknowledge that sin is death, and the enemy of that
life which thou renewest within us by thy Resurrection. I
wish to die to sin, and live to grace. By the Mystery of life
which thou art about to apply to my repentant heart, deign, I
beseech thee, to preserve me from the misery of ever again forfeiting thy grace.
ACT OF LOVE

O Jesus! thy Resurrection is not only the trophy of thy
victory, it is moreover, and more evidently, the grand triumph
of thy love. It was out of love for us that thou didst assume
our flesh and suffer the cruel Passion; and yet these proofs
of thine adorable goodness towards us are but a_preparation
of the last great act of God's love for sinful man, his creature.
Thou risest from the tomb, thou takest possession of immortality; it is a triumph well merited by thy humiliations and
sufferings: but it is all for our sake. What need hadst thou
of the Crib or the Cross, O eternal and infinitely happy God ?

PASCHAL

78

TIME

Why wouldst thou die, and then return to life ? Why descend
into the grave, and then leave it by a glorious Resurrection ?
Ah yes, T understand thee, my Jesus | it was because thou
lovest us, who had merited death by our sins. In thine incomprehensible love, thou wouldst share in our dcath, that we might
share in thy Resurrection. Whether nailed to the Cross, or
rising from the tomb, thou art ever our own dearest Jesus, ever
working for us; but the last act of thy almighty love is the
greatest. What return can I make thee, O my Saviour, if
not that of the warmest love ? And when should I give it
more fervently than now, when thou art about to give me that
Bread of Heaven which is thyself, and by which thou unitest
me to thy Resurrection, in order to make me a sharer of thy
glory and immortality 7 Thou art mine, O Jesus! both in
thy death and thy life! I wish to be thine, for time and for
eternity. Amen.
In order to make your preparation complete, follow,
with a lively faith and attention, all the mysteries of

the

Mass

at

using for this

the preceding

Communion,
Acts:

which

you

purpose

chapter.

are

to

receive

the method

For your

we

Communion;

have given in

thanksgiving

after

you may

sometimes recite the following

AFTER

COMMUNION

ACT OF ADORATION

O infinite majesty | thou art in me, and I am in thee. The
earth shook when thou didst rise from the tomb; and now, at
this blissful moment, feeling thee within me, my whole being
thrills with delight. Thou art here in my heart; thou the great
God, whose will alone created the light and whose almighty
power reunited thy Soul and Body for a glorious Resurrection.
I most profoundly adore thine omnipotence, which is now united
to my poor nature. No, my Almighty Father! thou shalt
find no resistance here; thou art my Sovereign Lord, and I
delightedly confess it. Thou hast come down from heaven to
this lowly dwelling of my misery, my nothingness, in order to
receive my adoration ; thou shalt have it, dear Lord| the
humblest and best I can give: for my soul is overpowered by
the wondrous honour thou art now conferring upon me! Thou
art the infinite Being, the Creator and Preserver of all things |
1 adore thee as my King and Lord and Master : my happiness
and glory is in my total dependence upon thee; the one ambition
of my heart is to serve thee.

AFTER

COMMUNION

79

ACT OF THANKSGIVING

O my Jesus! would that T had power to acknowledge as
it deserves the favour of this thy visit. Thou art come to me
in order to give me a share in thine own life. I am weak: the
mere remembrance of thy Resurrection would not suffce to
give me perseverance in the new life it has merited for me:
T needed thee, and thou hast graciously come to me, silently
and humbly, and yet with all thine omnipotence and glory.
When thou didst visit thine Apostles on the day of thy Resurrection, thou saidst to them: * It is I, fear not !’ So, foo, thou
speakest to my soul: thou biddest me fear not af the sight
of thy majesty and mine own misery and unworthiness. The
sweet greeting given to them is now given to me: ‘ Peace be
with thee I Most gratefully do I receive it. Blessed be thou,
my Jesus, for the provident and tender love wherewith thou
hast visited me, broken the chains of my captivity, made me
a partaker in thy triumph, fortified me against my enemies;
and all this by putting within me thine own immortal life by
the Communion I have just received ! I will say, then, with
the Royal Prophet: ‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul | and let all
that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O
my soul | and never forget all he hath done for thee! He
hath redeemed thy life from destruction: he hath renewed
thy youth as that of the eagle.’
ACT

OF

LOVE

0 Jesus | laden thus with thy choicest favours, I must repay
thy love by all the love this heart of mine can give. When
Magdalen was at thy tomb, and heard the sound of thy voice,
her soul melted within her; throwing herself at thy feet, she
could say nothing but call thee ‘ Master I And I, dear Jesus,
my Master | I who not only hear thy words, but feel thee within
me, what must I say to thee that will tell thee my love for
thee? The disciples of Emmaus had but a conversation with
thee, and they said to each other: * Was not our heart burning
within us whilst he spoke in the way ? What must I say,
who have thee now resting in my heart ? I must take courage,
and tell thee that I love thee, my risen Jesus| Thou didst
take Magdalen’s love, thou didst encourage that of thy disciples; deign also to receive mine. If it be weak, thou canst
add to its ardour. I am firmly resolved by the aid of thy grace
never to admit anything that could lessen my love of thee; I
will do all in my power to give it increase; and, for this end.
I will frequently approach this adorable Sacrament, for it is
indeed the Sacrament of Love.

8

PASCHAL TIME
ACT

OF

OBLATION

O Jesus! I belonged to thee, because I was redeemed by
thee: T am thine now, because thou hast restored life to me
by thy Resurrection, and because, by this happy Communion,
thou hast made me a partaker in all the glory of thy victory
over death. Henceforth, thy lot and mine are one; like thee,
I am dead to sin and alive unto God. Take me, then, my
dearest Jesus | I offer and give myself to thee, nor will I ever
again leave thee. Do with me what thou willest; I am thy
redeemed, and the companion of thy glory; my present, my
_future, my eternity, all are in thy hands. Therefore do I
renounce myself, that I may be guided by thee; I renounce the
‘world and its maxims, for they are enemies to the new life I
am resolved to lead. But that I may be faithful, I have need
of a powerful and never-failing aid. This aid, my Jesus ! is
thy Holy Spirit. Thou hast promised him to us. Our Easter
joy will not be perfect until he come and dwell within us. _Send
him, then, I beseech thee, to me. Thou art to ascend into
heaven: léave me not an orphan. I know that I have thee
in this adorable Sacrament; but I cannot receive it as often
as I wish, and my necessities recur at every hour. Vouchsafe,
then, to renew within me the presence of this Holy Spirit, who
will preserve and give efficacy to the graces thou hast bestowed
upon me by this Communion.
O Mary | by the joy that filled thy maternal heart at the
Resurrection of thy Jesus, I beseech thee to intercede for me
with him, that I may never lose the grace of the visit he has
this day granted me. Ye holy angels of God, who adore him
now dwelling within me, be solicitous for the holiness and purity
of my soul and body | All ye Saints of God, pray for me, that
1 may ever be faithful to him whom ye loved on earth, and
now possess as your infinite Good and your eternal happiness |
Amen.

SUNDAY'S

CHAPTER

81

VESPERS

THE SEVENTH

OF THE OFFICE OF VESPERS FOR SUNDAYS
AND FEASTS DURING PASCHAL TIME
HE Office of Vespers, or Evensong, consists firstly
of the five following Psalms. According to our

custom, we preface each Psalm with a short explanation, in order to draw attention to what is most in
barmony with the spirit of the Easter mysteries.
After the Pater and Ave have been said in secret,
the Church commences this Hour with her favourite
supplication:

¥. Deus, in adjutorium
‘meum intende.
K. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria_Patri, et Filio, et
Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et
nunc et semper, et in secula szculorum. Amen. Alleluia.
ANT. Alleluia.

_¥. Incline unto my aid, O
God.
K. O Lord, make haste to
help me.
Glory be to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy
Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world
withoutend. Amen. Alleluia.
ANT.

Alleluia.

Under this single Antiphon all the Psalms are sung,
if the Vespers are of the Sunday; but on feasts the
Antiphons are proper, and will be given on their respective days.
The first Psalm is a prophecy of the future glory of
the Messias. It celebrates his Eternal Generation, his

being equal with the Father, his Kingship and Priesthood. He was humbled fcr a while, even so as to

drink of the torrent : but now

he has triumphed

over

his enemies, and will come in glory at the end of the
world to iudge them.

6

PASCHAL

8

TIME

PSALM 109
Dixit Dominus Domino
The Lord said to my Lord,
his Son : Sit thou at my right
meo: * Sede a dextris meis.
band, and reign with me.
Donec ponam inimicos
Until, on the day of thy last
tuos: * scabellum pedum coming, T make thy enemies thy
footstool.
tuorum.
O Christ Ithe Lord thy Father
Virgam virtutis tuz emittet Dominus ex Sion: * do- will send forth the sceptre of thy
minare in medio inimicorum power out of Sion: from thence
rule thou in the midst of thy
tuorum.
enemies.
With thee is the principality
Tecum principium in_die
virtutis tuz in splendoribus in the day of thy strength, in
the brightness of the saints: For
sanctorum: * ex utero ante
the Father hath said to thee : From
luciferum genui te.
the womb before the day-star 1
begot thee.
The Lord hath sworn, and he
Juravit Dominus, et non
penitebit eum: * Tu es Sa- will not repent: ke hath said,
cerdos in ternum secundum speaking of thee, the God-Man
hou art a priest for ever,
ordinem Melchisedech.
according to the order of Melchisedech.
Therefore, O Fathey, the Lord,
Dominus a dextris tuis:
* confregit in die ir® suz thy Son, is at thy right hand: he
hath broken kings in the day of
reges.
his wrath.
Judicabit in nationibus,
He shall also judge among
implebit ruinas: * conquas- nations: in that terrible coming,
sabit capita in terra multo- he shall fill the ruins of the world :
he shall crush the heads in the
rum.
land of many.
De torrente in via bibet: *
He shall drink, in the way,
of the torrent of sufferings :
propterea exaltabit caput.
therefore shall be lift up the
head on the day of his triumph
over death.
The

following

Psalm

commemorates

the mercies of

God to his people, the promised Covenant, the Redemption, his fidelity to his word. The Resurrection of
Christ (of which our own is a consequence) was one of
God’s promises; and we are now celebrating its accomplishment.

SUNDAY'S VESPERS
Confitebor ~ tibi,

83

PSALM II0
Domine,
I will praise thee, O Lord,

in’toto corde meo’ * in consilio justorum et congregatione.
Magna opera Domini: *
exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus.
Confessio_ct magnificentia
opus ejus: * ct justitia ejus
manet in_seculum szcul
Memoriam fecit mirabilium
suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus: * escam dedit
timentibus se.
Memor erit in szculum
testamenti sui: * virtutem
operum suorum annuntiabit
populo suo.
Ut det illis hereditatem
Gentium:
* opera manuum
ejus veritas et judicium.
Fidelia omnia mandata
cjus, confirmata in szculum
swculi: * facta in veritate et
=quitate,
Redemptionem misit populo suo: * mandavitin wternum testamentum suum.
Sanctum et terribile nomen
ejus: * initium sapientiz
timor Domini,
Intellectus bonus omnibus
facientibus_eum: * laudatio
ejus manet in seculum szculi.

with my whole heart: in the
council of the just, and in the
congregation.
Great are the works of the
Lord: sought out according to
all his wills.
His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever.
He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works,
being a merciful and gracious
Lord: he hath given food to
them that fear him.
He will be mindful for ever of
his covenant with men : he will
show forth to his people the
power of his works.
That he may give them, his
Church, the inheritance of the
Gentiles: the works of his hands
are truth and judgement.
All his commandments are
faithful, confirmed for ever and
ever: made in truth and equity.
He hath sent redemption to
his people; he hath thereby
commanded his covenant for
ever.
Holy and terrible is his name;
the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.
A good understanding to all
that do it: his praise continueth
for ever and ever.

The next Psalm sings the happiness and hopes of the
Just man.
The light that riscs up in darkness is our
risen Jesus, who appears to us in his mercy. The
wicked one, who is angry at the triumph of him who is
par excellence the just, is the Jew,

rection

was

confusion.

a source

of the most

to whom

bitter

the Resur-

regret

and

PASCHAL TIME

84

PSALM

Beatus vir, qui timet Dominus
in mandatis ejus
volet nimis.
Potens in terra erit semen
ejus: * generatio rectorum
benedicetur.
Gloria, et divitia in domo
ejus: * et justitia ejus manet
in seculum szculi.
Exortum
est in tenebris
lumen rectis: * misericors,
et miserator, et justus.

Jucundus homo, qui miserefur et commodat, disponet
sermones suos in judicio: *
quia in @ternum non commovebitur,
In memoria mterna erit
justus: * ab auditione mala
non timebit.
Paratum cor ejus sperare
in Domino, confirmatum est
cor ejus: * non commovebitur donec despiciat inimicos
suos.
Dispersit, dedit pauperibus, justitia ejus manet in
seculum szculi: * cornu
ejus exaltabitur in gloria.
Peccator
videbit, et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet
et
tabescet:
*
desiderium

peccatorum peribit,

IIT

Blessed is the man that
feareth the Lord: heshall delight
exceedingly in his commandments.
His seed shall be mighty upon
earth: the generation of the
righteous shall be blessed.
Glory and wealth shall be in
his house: and his justice re‘maineth for ever and ever.
To the righteous a light is
risen up in darkness: he is
merciful and compassionate and
just.
Acceptable is the man_ that
showeth mercy and lendeth; he
shall order his words with judgement: because he shall not be
moved for ever.
‘The just shall bein everlasting
remembrance: he shall not fear
the evil hearing.
His heart is ready to hope in
the Lord; his heart is strengthened: he shall not be moved until
he look over his enemies.
He hath distributed, he hath
given to the poor; his justice
remaineth for ever and ever:
his horn shall be exalted in
glory.
The wicked shall see, and
shall be angry; he shall gnash
with his teeth and pine away;
the desire of the wicked shall

perish.

The Psalm Laudate pueri is a Canticle of praise to the

Lord, who from his high heaven has taken pity on the
fallen human race, and humbled himself by taking our

nature,

rection.

which

he afterwards

raised up

by his Resur-

SUNDAY’S
PSALM

Laudate, pueri, Dominum:
* laudate nomen Domini.
Sit nomen Domini benedictum: * ex hoc nunc et usque
in szculum.
A solis ortu usque ad occasum: * laudabile nomen
Domini.
Excelsus super omnes
gentes Dominus: * et super
Ceelos gloria ejus.
Quis sicut Dominus Deus
noster qui in altis habitat: *
et humilia respicit in ceelo et
in terra ?
Suscitans a terra inopem:
* et de stercore erigens pauperem.
Ut collocet eum cum principibus: * cum principibus
populi sui.
Qui habitare facit sterilem
in domo: * matrem filiorum
lztantem.

I12

Praise the Lord, ye children;
praise ye the name of the
Lord.
Blessed be the name of the
Lord: from henceforth now and
for ever.
From the rising of the sun
unto the going down of the
same, the name of the Lord is
worthy of praise.
The Lord is high above all
nations: and his glory above
the heavens.
Who is as the Lord our God
who dwelleth on high: and
looketh down on the low things
in heaven and in earth ?
Raising up the needy from the
earth: and lifting up the poor
out of the dunghill.
That he may place him with
princes: with the princes of his
people.
Who maketh a barren woman
to dwell in a house, the joyful
mother of children.

The fifth Psalm, In exitu,
Pasch (the exodus from Egypt)
accompanied and followed it; of
of Baptism; of the water which
in

the

desert;

and

of

85

VESPERS

the

speaks of the ancient
and the prodigies that
the Red Sea, the figure
issued from the rock

abolition

of idol-worship.

Our Christian Pasch and Pentecost are the fulfilment
of all these figures; they bring a blessing upon all, Jews

or Gentiles,

who

love or fear Christ.

of our sins, we were

condemned

In consequence

fo go down

into hell,

where we should never have heard the glad hymns of

praise sung to our God in the heavenly Jerusalem: but
the Resurrection of Christ has restored us to life, and

we sing, to
Alleluia.

his and his Father’s praise,

the joyous

86

PASCHAL
PSALM

TIME
II3

When Israel went out of
In exitu Isracl de ZEgypto: * domus Jacob-de populo Egypt, the house of Jacob from
barbaro.
a barbarous people.
Facta est Judza sanctifiJudea was made his sanccatio ejus: * Israel potestas tuary, Israel his dominion.
ejus.
Mare vidit, et fugit: *
The sea saw and fled: JorJordanis conversus est re- dan was turned back.
trorsum.
The mountains skipped like
Montes
exsultaverunt
ut
arietes: * et colles sicut agni rams: and the bills like the
ovium,
lambs of the flock.
Quid est tibi, mare, quod
What ailed thee, O thou sea,
fugisti: * et tu, Jordanis, that thou didst flee: and thou,
quia conversus es retrorsum ? O Jordan, that thou wast turned
back ?
Montes exsultastis _sicut
Ye mountains that ye skipped
arietes: * et colles sicut agni like rams: and ye hills like lambs
ovium ?
of the flock ?
A facie Domini mota est
At the presence of the Lord
terra: * a facie Dei Jacob.
the earth was moved, at the
presence of the God of Jacob.
Qui convertit petram in
Who turned the rock into
stagna aquarum: * et rupem pools of water, and the stoay
in fontes aquarum.
hills into fountains of water.
Non nobis, Domine, non
Not to us, O Lord, not to us:
nobis: * sed nomini tuo da but to thy name give glory.
gloriam.
Super misericordia tua, et
For thy mercy and for thy
veritate tua: * nequando truth’s sake: lest the Gentiles
dicant Gentes: Ubi est Deus should say: Where is their God ?
eorum ?
Deus autem noster in ceelo:
But our God is in heaven: he
* omnia quzcumque voluit, hath done all things whatsoever
fecit.
he would.
Simulacra Gentium argenThe idols of the Gentiles are
tum et aurum: * opera ma- silver and gold: the works of
nuum hominum.
the hands of men.
Os habent, et non loquenThey have mouths, and speak
tur: ¢ oculos habent, et non not: they have eyes, and see not.
videbunt.
Aures habent, et non auThey have ears, and hear not:
dient: * nares habent et non they have noses, and smell not,
odorabunt.
Manus habeat, et non palThey have hands, and feel not:
pabunt, pedes habent et non they have feet, and walk not:

SUNDAY’S

ambulabunt: * non clamabunt
in gutture suo.
Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea: * et omnes qui
confidunt in eis.
Domus Israel speravit in
Domino: * adjutor eorum
et protector corum est.
Domus Aaton speravit in
Domino: * adjutor eorum
et protector eorum est.
Qui timent Dominum, speraverunt in Domino: * adjutor eorum et protector eorum
est.
Dominus memor fuit nostri: * et benedixit nobis.
Benedixit domui Israel:
benedixit domui Aaron.
Benedixit omnibus qui_timent Dominum: * pusillis
cum majoribus.
Adjiciat Dominus super
vos: * super vos, et super
filios vestros.
Benedicti vos a Domino: *
qui fecit ceelum et terram.
Ceelum celi Domino: *
teram autem dedit filiis
hominum.
Non mortui laudabunt te,
Domine: * neque omnes qui
descendunt in infernum.
Sed nos qui vivimus, benedicimus Domino: * ex hoc
nunc et usque in szculum.
ANT.
luia.

Allcluia, alleluia, alle-

VESPERS

87

neither shall they cry out through
their throat.
Let them that make them
become like unto them: and all
such as trust in them.
The house of Israel hath
hoped in the Lord: he is their
helper and their protector.
The house of Aaron hath
hoped in the Lord: he is their
helper and their protector.
They that feared the Lord
have hoped in the Lord: he is
their helper and their protector.
The Lord hath been mindful
of us, and hath blessed us.
He hath blessed the house of
Tsrael: he hath blessed the house
of Aaron.
He hath blessed all that fear
the Lord, both little and great.
May the Lord add blessings
upon you: upon you, and upon
your children.
Blessed be you of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
The heaven of heaven is the
Lord’s: but the earth he has
given to the children of men.
The dead shall not praise
thee, O Lord; nor any of them
that go down to hell.
But we that live bless the
Lord: from this time now and
for ever.
Axt. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

a short Lesson from the holy
Scriptures is read. It is called Capitulum, because it
is always very short. Those for the Sundays of EasterAfter these five Psalms,

tide are given in the Proper.

After the Capitulum,

which

was written

follows the Hymn,

by St Ambrose,

changed in the seventeenth century.

though

Ad regias,
somewhat

88

PASCHAL

TIME

HYMN!

Ad regias Agni dapes,
Stolis amicti candidis,
Post transitum maris Rubri,
Christo canamus principi.
Divina cujus charitas
Sacrum propinat sanguinem,
Almique membra corporis
‘Amor sacerdos immolat.
Sparsum cruorem postibus
Vastator horret Angelus:
Fugitque divisum mare,
Merguntur hostes fluctibus.
Jam Pascha nostrum Christus est,
Paschalis idem victima,
Et pwa puris mentibus
Sinceritatis azyma,
O vera ceeli victima,
Subjecta cui sunt tartara,
Soluta mortis vincula,
Recepta vite premia.
Victor subactis inferis
Trophaa Christus explicat,
Ceeloque aperto, subditum
Regem tenebrarum trahit.
Ut sis perenne mentibus
Paschale, Jesu, gaudium,

Having passed the Red Sea,
and now seated at the royal
banquet of the Lamb, clad in
our white robes, let us sing a
hymn to Christ our King.
He, in his divine love for us,
gives us to drink of his precious
Blood. Love is the priest that
immolates his sacred Body.
The destroying angel looks
with awe upon the Blood that
is sprinkled on the thresholds.
The sea divides its waters, and
buries our enemies in its waves.
Christ is now our Pasch; he
is our Paschal Lamb; he is the
unleavened Bread of sincerity,
pure food for pure souls.
0O truly heavenly Victim | by
whom hell was vanquished, the
fetters of death were broken, and
life was awarded to mankind.
Christ, our Conqueror, unfolds
his banner, for he has subdued
the powers of hell. He opens
heaven to man, and leads captive
the prince of darkness.
That thou, O Jesus, mayst
be an endless Paschal joy to our

* According to the Monastic Rite, it is as eriginally composed.
the following Responsory:

Rr. treve—Surrexit Surrexit.
Domiaus_vers.
. Et
apparuit”
Simonl;
Allawa:
Gloris
Yl;ldi. etc. Surrexif
=
comam
Agel
providi,
EtPoststolis
albis candi,
tranaitum
maris
Rubri
Citisto
canamus
Principt
Cujus,
sanctissimum
In ara Crucis torridum,
Craore
epus rosen
Gustando vivimus Deo.
Protect
Pasche
vespere
A devastarte Angelo,
Erepti de durissitho
Pharaonis
imperio,
Jam Pascha nostrum Christus est,
Qul Tmimolatus Aguus e,
* Alleluia, Alleluia.

It s preceded by

Sinceritatis azyma
Caro ejus oblata est.
O vere digna hostia,
Per quam fracta sunt tartara,
Redempta plebs captivata,
Reddita vite
premia.
Consurgit Christus tumulo,
Victor redit de baratbro,
Tyrannum trudeas vinculo
Et paradisum reserans.
umus, Auctor omnium,
In Boc Paschali gaudio,
Ab omni mortis impetu
‘Tuum defende populum.
Gloria tibi Domine,
i surrexisti a
um Patre et Sancto Spirity,
In sempiterna sacula. - Amen.

SUNDAY'S VESPERS

89

hearts, free us, who have been
regenerated unto life, from the
dread death of sin.
Deo Patri sit gloria,
Glory be to God the Father,
Et Filio, qui a mortuis
and to the Son who rose from
Surrexit, ac Paradlito,
the dead, and to the Paraclete,
for everlasting ages.
In sempiterna szcula.
Amen.
Amen.
¥. Mane nobiscum, Do¥. Stay with us, O Lord,
mine, alleluia.
alleluia.
R. Quoniam advesperascit,
K. For it is now evening,
alleluia.
alleluia.
A morte dira criminum
Vit renatos libera.

Then

is said the Magnificat Antiphon,

which

is to

be found in the Proper for the several days. After this
the Church sings the Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat.
This exquisite Canticle is an essential part of the Vespers
throughout the year.
It gives us the words of our
blessed Lady, wherein she expresses to St Elizabeth
the transports of her joy and gratitude at bearing God
within her womb.
Let us join her in celebrating the
ineffable honour bestowed upon her, the merits of that
profound Aumility which rendered her worthy of such
an honour, the overthrow of the proud spirits who were
driven from heaven, and the exaliation of human nature,
of itself so poor and miserable, to that high place from
which the angels fell.
OUR LADY’S CANTICLE

(St Luke i)
Magnificat: * anima mea
My soul doth magnify the
Dominum.
Lord.
Et exsultavit spiritus meAnd my spirit hath rejoiced
us:
in Deo salutari meo.
in God my Saviour.
Quia respexit humilitatem
Because he hath regarded the
ancillz suz: * ecce enim ex humility of his handmaid: for,
hoc beatam me dicent omnes behold from henceforth all genegenerationes.
rations shall call me blessed.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui
Because he that is mighty
potens est: * et sanctum hath done great things to me:
nomen ejus.
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from geneEt misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies: * timenti- ration unto generation, to them
that fear him.
bus eum.

90

PASCHAL TIME

He hath showed might in his
Fecit potentiam in brachio
suo: * dispersit superbos arm: he hath scattered the proud
mente cordis sui.
in the conceit of their heart.
Deposuit potentes de sede:
He hath put down the mighty
from their seat : and hath cxalted
* et exaltavit humiles.
the humble.
He hath filled the hungry
Esurientes implevit bonis:
with good things: and the rich
* et divites dimisit inanes.
he hath sent empty away. He hath reccived Israel his
Suscepit Israel puerum
suum:
* recordatus miseri- servant, being mindful of his
mercy.
cordiz suz.
Sicut locutus est ad patres
As he spake to our fathers, to
nostros: ¢ Abraham et semini Abraham and to his seed for
ejus in szcula.
ever.
The

Magnificat

Antiphon is then repeated.
The
Prayer, or Collect, will be found in the Proper of each
Sunday.
The Vespers end with the following Versicles:

¥. Benedicamus Domino.
_¥. Let us bless the Lord.
. Thanks be to God.
Iy. Deo gratias.
¥. Fidelium animz per mi. May the souls of the faithsericordiam Dei requiescant ful departed, through the mercy
in_pace.
of God, rest in peace.
R. Amen.
K. Amen.

COMPLINE

CHAPTER

9t

THE EIGHTH

OF THE OFFICE OF COMPLINE FOR SUNDAYS
AND FEASTS DURING PASCHAL TIME
'HIS Office, which

concludes the day,

commences

by a waming of the dangers of the night; then
immediately follows the public confession of our sins,
as a powerful means of propitiating the divine justice
and obtaining God’s help, now that we are going to spend
so many hours in the unconscious and therefore dangerous
state of sleep, which is also such an image of death.
The lector, addressing the priest, says to him:

¥. Jube, Domne, benedi¥. Pray, Father, give thy
cere.
blessing.
The priest answers:

Noctem quietam, et finem
May the Almighty Lord grant
perfectum concedat nobis Do- us a quiet night and a perfect
minus omnipotens.

end.

Ry Amen.
The

lector

then

K. Amen.

Epistle of St Peter:

reads

Fratres: Sobrii estote, et
vigilate: quia adversarius
vester diabolus, tamquam leo
rugiens circuit querens quem
devoret: cui resistite fortes in
fide. Tu autem, Domine,
‘miserere nobis.
Ry. Deo gratias.

these words,

from

the

first

Brethren, be sober and watch:
for your adversary the devil goes
about like
a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour: resist him,
being strongin faith. But thou,
O Lord, have mercy on us.

The choir answers:

K. Thanks be to God

Then the priest:
¥. Adjutorium nostrum in
‘nomine Domini.

¥. Our help is in the name
of the Lord.

9z

PASCHAL

R. Qui
terram.
Then

TIME

The choir:
fecit

the

ccelum

Lord’s

et

Prayer

R. Who hath made heaven
and earth,
js recited

in secret;

after

which the priest says the Confiteor ; and, when he has

finished, the choir says:

Misereatur tui omnipotens

May Almighty God have
Deus, et dimissis peccatis tuis, mercy on thee, and, forgiving
perducat tead vitam zternam
thy sins, bring thee to everlasting life.
The priest having answered Amen, the choir repeats
the Conjiteor, thus:

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti,
beatz Maria semper Virgini,
beato Michaeli Archangelo,
beato Joanni Baptistz, san’
ctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo,
omnibus Sanctiset tibi, pater:
uia peccavi nimis, cogitatione, verbo, et opere: mea
culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem.
beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sancfos Apostolos
Petrum et Paulum, omnes
Sanctos, et te, pater, orare
pro me ad Dominum Deum
nostrum.

1 confess to Almighty God, to
blessed
ever Virgin, to
blessed Michael the Archangel,
to blessed John Baptist, to the
holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
to all the Saints, and to thee,
Father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and
deed, through my fault, through
my fault, through my most
grievous _fault. Therefore I
beseech the blessed Mary ever
Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John Baptist, the
holy ‘Apostles Peter and Paul,
and all the Saints, and thee,
Father, to pray to our Lord God
for me!

The priest then says:

Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis
vestris, perducat vos ad vitam
@ternam.
K. Amen.
Indulgentiam,
absolutionem, et remissionem peccanostrorum tribuat
torum
nobis_omnipotens et misericors Dominus,
R. Amen.

May Almighty God be merciful to you, and, forgiving your
sins, bring you to everlasting life,
R. Amen.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon,
absolution, and remission of our
sins.
R. Amen,

¥. Converte

nos,

COMPLINE

Deus,

Salutaris noster.
Ry. Et averte iram tuam
a nobis.
¥. Deus, in adjutorium
meum intende.
K. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, etc.
ANT. Alleluia.

Alleluia.

93

¥. Convert us, O God, our
saviour.
K. And tum away thy anger
from us.
¥. Incline unto my aid, O
God.
R. O Lord, make haste to

hel(g

lory, etc. Alleluia.

ANT.

Alleluia,

The first Psalm expresses the confidence with which
the just man slegps in_peace ; but the wicked know not
what calm rest is. The beautiful countenance of our
risen Lord

sheds light and

gladness upon

the faithful,

and renews the hope of their own resurrection, which is
to be after their sleep in the tomb.

PSALM 4
Cum invocarem exaudivit
When I called upon him the
me Deus justitie mez: * in God of my justice heard me:
tribulatione dilatasti mihi.
when I was in distress, thou hast
enlarged me.
Miserere mei: * et exaudi
Have mercy on me: and heat
orationem meam.
my prayer.
Filii hominum, usquequo
O ye sons of men, how long
gravi corde: * ut quid dili- will you be dull of heart ? why
gitis vanitatem, et queritis do you love vanity, and seek
mendacium ?
after lying ?
Bt scitote quoniam miriKnow ye also that the Lord
ficavit Dominus sanctum hath made his Holy One wonsuum: * Dominus exaudiet derful: the Lord will hear me
me, cum clamavero ad eum. when I shall cry unto him.
Trascimini, et nolite pecBe ye angry, and sin not: the
care: * qua dicitisin cordibus things you say in your hearts,
vestris, in_cubilibus vestris be sorry for them upon your
compungimini.
Beds.
Sacrificate sacrificium _juOffer up the sacrifice of jusstitiz, et sperate in Domino: tice and trustin the Lord: many
* multi dicunt: Quis osten- say, who showeth us good
dit nobis bona ?
things ?
Signatum est super nos
The light of thy countenance,
lumen_ vultus tui Domine: * O Lord, is signed upon us: thou
dedisti lztitiam in corde meo. hast given gladness in my heart,
A fructu frumenti, vini et
By the fruit of their corn, their
olei sui+ * multiplicati sunt. wine, and oil, they are multiplied.

94

PASCHAL

TIME

In pace in idipsum: * In peace, in_the self same, I
will sleep, and T will rest.
dormiam et requiescam.
For thou, O Lord, singularly
Quoniam tu, Domine, singulariterin spe: * constituisti hast settled me in hope.
me.
The second Psalm gives the motives of the just man’s
confidence, even during the dangers of the night. Then

we have God himself speaking, and promising to them

that serve him eternal happiness, and the sight of the

Saviour whose Resurrection gave them life.

PSALM QO
He that dwelleth in the aid
Qui_habitat in adjutorio
Alfissimi: * in protectione of the Most High, shall abide
under the protection of the God
Dei ceeli commorabitur.
of heaven.
He shall say
to the Lord : Thou
Dicet Domino: Susceptor
meus es tu, et refugium meum art my protector, and my refuge:
* Deus meus, sperabo in eum. my God, in him will I trust.
For he hath delivered me
Quoniam ipse liberavit me
de laqueo venantium: * et a from the snare of the hunters:
and from the sharp word.
verbo aspero.
He will overshadow thee with
Scapulis suis obumbrabit
tibi: * et sub pemnis ejus his shoulders: and under his
wings thou shalt trust.
sperabis.
His truth shall compass thee
Scuto circumdabit te veritas ejus: * non timebis a with a shield: thou shalt not be
afraid of the terror of the night.
timore nocturno.
A sagitta volante in die, a Of the arrow that flieth in the
negotio perambulante in tene- day: of the business that walketh
bris: * ab incursu, et demo- about in the dark: of invasion,
or of the noonday devil.
nio meridiano.
Cadent a latere tuo mille, et A thousand shall fall at thy
decem millia a dextris tuis: side, and ten thousand at thy
* ad te autem non appro- right band: but it shall not come
pinquabit.
nigh thee.
Verumtamen oculis _tuis But thou shalt consider with
considerabis:
* et retribu- thy eyes: and shalt see the retionem peccatorum videbs
ward of the wicked.
Quoniam_tu_es, Domize,
Because thou hast said : Thou,
spes mea: * Altissimum po- 0 Lord, art my hope, thou hast
suisti refugium tuum.
made the Most High thy refuge.
Non accedet ad te malum:
There shall no evil come to
* ‘et flagellum non appro- thee, nor shall the scourge come
pinquabit tabernaculo tuo.
near thy dwelling.

COMPLINE

Quoniam Angelis suis mandavit de te: * ut custodiant
te in omnibus viis tuis.
In manibus portabunt te:
* ne forte offendas ad lapidem
pedem tuum.
Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis: * et conculcabis leonem et draconem.
Quoniam in me speravit,
liberabo eum: * protegam
eum, quoniam cognovit nomen’ meum.
Clamabit ad me, et ego
exaudiam eum: * cum ipso
sum in tribulatione, eripiam
cum, et glorificabo eum.
Longitudine dierum
replebo
eum: ¥ et ostendam illi Salutare meum.

95

For he hath given his Angels
charge over thee: to keep thee
in all thy ways.
In their hands they shall bear
thee up: lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
‘Thou shalt walk upon the asp
and the basilisk: and thou shalt
trample under foot the lion and
the dragon.
God will say of thee : Because
he hoped in me, I will deliver
him: I will protect him, because
he hath known my Name.
He will cry to me, and I will
hear him: I am with him in
tribulation, I will deliver him,
and I will glorify him.
T will fill him with length of
days: and I will show him my
Salvation.

The third Psalm invites the servanis of God to persevere with fervour in the prayers they offer during the

night. The faithful should say this psalm in a spirit

of gratitude to God for raising up in the Church adorers
of his holy name, whose grand vocation is to lift up
theirhands, day and night, for the safety of Israel.
On such prayers depend the happiness and the destinies
of the world.

PSALM 133
Ecce nunc benedicite DoBehold now bless ye the Lord,
;% omnes servi Do- all ye servants of the Lord.
‘mini.
Qui statis in domo DoWho stand in the house of the
mini: * in atriis domus Dei Lord, in the courts of the house
nostri.
of our God.
In noctibus extollite manus
In the nights lift up your
vestras in sancta: * et bene- hands to the holy places, and
dicite Dominum.
bless ye the Lord.
Benedicat te Dominus ex Say to Israel : May the Lord
Sion: * qui fecit celum et out of Sion bless thee, he that
terram,
made heaven and earth.
Anr. Alleluia, alleluia, alle- AN Alleluia, alleluia, alleIuia.
uia.

PASCHAL

96

TIME

HYMN!

Te lucis ante terminum,
Rerum Creator, poscimus,
Ut pro tua clementia
Sis prasul et custodia.
Procul recedant somnia,
Et noctium phantasmata;
Hostemque
nostrum
comprime,
Ne polluantur corpora.
Deo Patri sit gloria,
Et Filio, qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito
In sempiterna secula.
Amen,

Before the closing of thelight,
we beseech thee, Creator of all
things | that, in thy clemency,
thou be our protector and our
guard.
May the dreams and phantoms of night depart far from
us; and do thou repress our
enemy, lest our bodies be profaned.
Glory be to God the Father,
and to the Son, who rose from
the dead, and -to the Paraclete,
for everlasting ages.
Amen.

CAPITULUM

(Jeremias xiv)
Tu autem in nobis es, DoBut thou art in us, O Lord,
and thy holy name has been
mine,
et
nomen
sanctum
tuum invocatum est super invoked upon us: forsake us
nos; me_ derelinquas nos, not, O Lord our God.
Domine Deus noster.
Ry. Into thy hands, O Lord:
K. In_manus tuas, Domine: Commendo spiritum I commend my spirit. * Allemeum. * Alleluia, alleluia. luia, alleluia. Into thy hands.
In manus tuas.
¥. Thou hast redeemed us,
¥. Redemisti nos, Domine
Deus _veritatis. * Alleluia, 0 'Lord God of truth. * Alle:
luia, alléluia.
alleluia.
Glory. Into thy hands.
Gloria. In manus tuas.
¥. Custodi nos, Domine,
Ry. Preserve us, O Lord, as
the apple of thine eye, alleluia.
ut pupillam oculi, alleluia.
K. Sub umbra alarum tuaV. Protect us under the
rum protege nos, alleluia.
shadow of thy wings, alleluia.
ANT. Salva nos.
ANT. Save us.
The

Canticle of

holding the divine

the venerable

while

Infant in his arms, proclaimed him

* According to the Monastic Rite, as follows:

Te lucis ante terminum,
Rerum Creator, poscimus,
Ut solita clementia
Sis praesul ad custodiam.
Procul recedant somnia
Bt noctium phantasmata;

Simeon—who,

Hostemque nostrum comprime
Ne polluantur
corpora.
Gloria tibi Domine
i surrexisti 2 mortu
um Patre et Sancto Spirita
Ta sempiterna scula.

COMPLINE

97

to be the Light of the Gentiles, and then slept the sleep
of the just—admirably expresses the repose of heart

which the soul that is in the grace of God will experience
in her Jesus; for, as the apostle says, we may live
together with Jesus, whether we are awake or asleep.!
CANTICLE

OF

SIMEON

(St Luheii)
Now dost thou dismiss thy
Nunc dimittis servam tuum
Domine: * secundum verbum servant, O Lord, according to
thy word, in peace.
tuum in pace.
Quia viderunt oculi mei:
Because my eyes have seen
thy salvation.
* salutare tuum.
Which thou hast
prepared
Quod parasti: * ante fabefore the face of all pegplee.
ciem omnium populorum.
A light to the revelation of the
Lumen ad revelationem
Gentium: * et gloriam ple- Gentiles, and the glory of thy
people Israel.
bis tu Israel.
Glory, etc.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, etc.
ANT. Save us, O Lord, while
Anr. Salva nos, Domine,
vigilantes, custodi nos dor- awake, and watch us as we sleep;
mientes: ut vigilemus cum that we may watch with Christ,
Christo, et requiescamus in and rest in peace. Alleluia.
pace. _Alleluia.
¥. The Lord be with you,
¥. Dominus vobiscum.
Ry. And with thy spirit,
®. Et cum spiritu tuo.
LET US PRAY.
OREMUS.
Visit, we beseech thee, O
Visita, quasumus, Domine,
Lord, this house and family, and
babitationem istam, et omnes
insidias inimici ab ea longe drive far from it all sares of the
repelle: angeli tui sancti ha- enemy; let thy holy angels dwell
bitent in ea, qui nos in pace herein, who may keep us in
custodiant: et benedictio tua peace, and may thy blessing be
sit super mos semper. Per always upon us. Through Jesus
Dominum _nostrum Jesum Christ our Lord, thy Son, who
Christum, Filium tuum, qui liveth and reigneth with thee, in
tecum vivit et regnat in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, God, world withoutend. Amen,
per omnia szcula szculorum.
Amen.
¥. Dominus vobiscum.
¥. The Lord be with you.
K. Et cum spiritu tuo.
1;. And with thy spirit.
¥. Benedicamus Domino.
. Let us bless the Lord.
K. Deo gratias.
K. Thanks be to God.
3 x Thess.
v 10,

TIME

PASCHAL

98

May the Almighty and merci-

Benedicat et custodiat nos

omnipotens et misericors ful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy
Dominus, Pater, et Filius, et Ghost, bless and preserve us.
Spiritus Sanctus.
Ry. Amen.
R. Amen.
ANTHEM

TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

There is a venerable tradition connected
joyous anthem.
It is related that a fearful
raged in Rome, during one of the Easters of
ficate of St Gregory the Great. In order to
the

anger

of God,

the

bridge

which

the holy Pope

prescribed

with this
pestilence
the pontipropitiate
a public

procession of both people and clergy, in which was to
be carried the portrait of our blessed Lady painted by
St Luke. The procession was advancing in the direction of St Peter’s; and as the holy picture, followed
by the Pontiff, was carried along, the atmosphere
became pure and free from pestilence. Having reached
joins

choir of angels was

the city with

the

Vatican,

a

heard singing above the picture,

and saying: ‘ Rejoice, O Queen of heaven, alleluia ! for

he whom

risen, as he

thou didst

deserve to bear, alleluia!

said, alleluia”

As

soon

as

hath

the heavenly

music ceased, the saintly Pontiff took courage, and
added these words to those of the angels: ‘ Pray to God
for

us,

anthem

alleluia!”

to our

Gregory saw

Thus

Lady.

was

Raising

the destroying

composed

his

eyes

the

to

Paschal

heaven,

angel standing on the top

of the Mole of Hadrian, and sheathing his sword.

In

memory of this apparition the Mole was called the
Castle of Sant’ Angelo, and on the dome was placed an
immense statue representing an angel holding his sword

in the scabbard.

ANTHEM

Regina coeli, lztare, alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare,
alleluia,
Resurrexitsicut dixit,alleluia,
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

Rejoice, O Queen of heaven,
alleluia,
For he whom thou didst deserve
to bear, alleluia,
Hath risen, as he said, alleluia.
Pray to God for us, alleluia.

COMPLINE

¥. Gaude et lztare, Virgo
Maria, alleluia.
Ry. Quia surrexit Dominus
vere, alleluia.
OREMUS.
Deus, qui per Resurrectionem Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi, munddm
lztificare dignatus es: prasta quasumus, ut per ejus
Genitricem Virginem Mariam,
perpetuz capiamus
gaudia
vite. Per eumdem Christum
Dominum nostrum,
R. Amen,
¥. Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum.
R. Amen.t

9

¥. Rejoice and be glad, O
Virgin Mary, alleluia,
. For the Lord hath truly
risen, alleluia.
LET US PRAY.

O God, who, by the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
thy Son, didst vouchsafe to make
the world rejoice; grant, we
beseech thee, that by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, his
Mother, we may receive the joys
of eternal life. Through the same
Christ our Lord.
Ry. Amen,
¥. May the divine assistance
remain always with us.
K. Amen.!

Then in secret, Pater, Ave, and Credo; p. 27.
* In the Monastic Rite, this Response Is as follows:
R1. And with our absent brethren,
Et cum fratribus nostris absentlbus,K. Amen.
Amen.

EASTER

€asfer

SUNDAY

Iox

Bunday'

Hzc DiEs QuaM rrcrr _ THIS IS THE DAY WHICH THE
DOMINUS; EXSULTEMUS ET LORD HATH MADE; LET US BE

LETEMUR IN EA |

GLAD AND REJOICE THEREIN |

MORNING
'HE night between Saturday and Sunday has well-

Tnigh run its course, and the day-dawn is appearing.
The Mother of sorrows is waiting, in courageous hope
and

patience,

for the

blissful

moment

of her

Jesus’

return. Magdalen and the other holy women have
spent the night in watching, and are preparing to start
for the sepulchre.

In limbo, the Soul of our crucified

Lord is about to give the glad word of departure to
the myriads of the long-imprisoned holy souls who
cluster round him in adoring love. Death is still holding
his silent sway over the sepulchre where rests the Body
of Jesus. Since the day when he gained his first victim,
Abel, he has swept off countless generations; but never
has he held in his grasp a prey so noble as this that now
lies in the tomb near Calvary. Never has the terrible
sentence of God pronounced against our first parents
received such a fulfilment as this; but never has death
received such a defeat as the one that is now preparing.
It is true, the power of God has at times brought back
the dead to life: the son of the widow of Naim, and
Lazarus, were reclaimed from the bondage of this tyrant
death; but he regained his sway over them all. But

his Victim of Cdlvary is to conquer him for ever, for this

is he of
1 Easter
tells s (i
ancestors.
and hence,

whom it is written in the prophecy: ‘ O death !
is the Anglo-Saxon word for April, and was derived, as Venerable Bede
bis book De
emporum ratons, 1) from Eosre 3 goddes of our pagan
Others derive Easter from Oesf, O0st, the Saxon for rising, or the east:
Osferen, the Resurrection. ~ (77. from Butler's Moveable Feasts.]

102

PASCHAL TIME

I will be thy death !'* Yet a few brief moments and
the battle will be begun, and life shall vanquish
death.
As divine justice could not allow the Body that was
united to the Word to see corruption, and there wait,
like ours must,

for the Archangel’s

word

to ‘rise and

come to judgement,’” so neither could it permit the
dominion of death to be long over such a Victim.
Jesus
had said to the Jews: ‘ A wicked generation seeketh a
sign; and a sign shall not be given it, but that of Jonas
the prophet.’”” Three days in the tomb—the afternoon
and night of Friday, the whole of Saturday, and a few
hours of the Sunday,—yes, these are enough: enough to
satisfy divine justice; enough to certify the death of
the Crucified, and make his triumph glorious; enough to
complete the martyrdom of that most loving of mothers,
the Queen of sorrows.

“ No man taketh away my life from me: I lay it down

of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it up again.”” Thus spoke our Redeemer

to the Jews before his Passion; now is the hour for the
fulfilment of his words, and death shall feel their whole

force. The day of light, Sunday, has begun, and its
early dawn is struggling with the gloom. The Soul of
Jesus immediately darts from the prison of limbo,
followed by the whole multitude of the holy souls that
are around him.
In the twinkling of an eye, it reaches
and enters the sepulchre, and reunites itself with that
Body which, three days before, it had quitted amidst
an agony of suffering. The sacred Body returns to life,
raises itself up, and throws aside the winding-sheet, the
spices, and the bands. The bruises have disappeared,
the Blood has been brought back to the veins; and from
these limbs that

had

been torn by the scourging, from

this head that had been mangled by the thorns, from
these hands and feet that had been pierced with nails,
there darts forth a dazzling light that fills the cave.
The holy angels had clustered round the stable and
* Osee xiil 14.
* St Matt, xii 39.
* St Jobn x 18

EASTER

SUNDAY:

MORNING

103

adored the Babe of Bethlehem; they are now around the
sepulchre, adoring the conqueror of death. They take
the shrouds, and reverently folding them up, place them
on the slab whereon the Body had been laid by Joseph
and Nicodemus.
But Jesus is not to tarry in the gloomy sepulchre.
Quicker than a ray of light through a crystal, he passes
through the stone that closes the entrance of the cave.
leate had ordered his seal to be put upon this stone,
and a guard of soldiers is there to see that no one touches
it. Untouched it is, and unmoved; and yet Jesus is
free !

Thus, as the holy Fathers unanimously teach us,

was it as his birth: he appeared to the gaze of Mary,
without having offered the slightest violence to her
maternal womb.

The birth and the Resurrection,

the

commencement and the end of Jesus’ mission, these two

mysteries bear on them the seal of resemblance: in the
first, it is a Virgin Mother; in the last, it is a sealed tomb

giving forth its captive God.
And while this Jesus, this Man-God, thus breaks
the sceptre of death, the stillness of the night is undisturbed. His and our victory has cost him no_effort.
O death ! where is now thy kingdom?
Sin had made
us thy slaves; thy victory was complete; and now, lo !
thou thyself art defeated! Jesus, whom thou didst
exultingly hold under thy law, has set himself free;
and we, after thou hast domineered over us for a time,

we too shall be free from thy grasp.

The tomb thou

makest for us will become to s the source of a new life,

for he that now conquers thee is the First-born among
the dead’;! and to-day is the Pasch, the Passover, the

deliverance, for Jesus and for us his brethren.

He has

led the way; we shall follow; and the day will come when

thou, the enemy that destroyest all things, shalt thyself
be destroyed by immortality.* Thy defeat dates from

this moment of Jesus’ Resurrection, and with the great
Apostle we say to thee: ‘O death ! where is thy victory ?
O death ! where is thy sting 2’3

' Apoc. i 5

*1 Cor xv 26,

* Ibid. 55.

104

PASCHAL

TIME

But the sepulchre is not to remain shut: it must be
thrown open, and testify to men that he, whose lifeless
Body lay there, is indeed risen from the dead. As when
our Jesus expired upon the Cross, so now immediately
after his Resurrection, an earthquake shook the foundations of the world; but this time it was for joy. ‘The
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back

the stone, and sat upon it.

lightning,

And his countenance was as

and his raiment as snow.

And

for fear of

him the guards were struck with terror,” and fell on the

ground ‘ as dead men.” God has mercy on them; they
return to themselves, and quitting the dread sepulchre,
they hasten to the city, and relate what they have seen.
Meanwhile, our risen Jesus, seen by no other mortal

eye, has sped to his most holy Mother.
He is the Son of
God; he is the vanquisher of death; but he is likewise
the Son of Mary.
She stood near him to the last, uniting
the sacrifice of her mother’s heart with that he made
upon the Cross; it is just, therefore, that she should be
the first to partake of the joy of his Resurrection.
The
Gospel does not relate the apparition thus made by
Jesus to his Mother, whereas all the others are fully
described. It is not difficult to assign the reason. The
other apparitions were intended as proofs of the Resurrection; this to Mary was dictated by the tender love borne
to her by her Son.
Both nature and grace required
that his first visit should be to such a Mother, and

Christian hearts dwell with delight on the meditation
of the mystery. There was no need of its being men-

tioned in the Gospel; the tradition of the holy Fathers,

beginning with St Ambrose, bears sufficient testimony
to it; and even had they been silent, our hearts would
have told it us. And why was it that our Saviour rose
from the tomb so early on the day he had fixed for his
Resurrection ? It was because his filial love was impatient to satisfy the vehement longings of his dearest
and most afflicted Mother. Such is the teaching of
many pious and learned writers; and who that knows
aught of Jesus and Mary could refuse to accept it ?

EASTER

SUNDAY:

MORNING

105

But who is there would attempt to describe the joy

of such a meeting?
Those eyes that had grown dim
from wakefulness and tears now flash with delight at
beholding the brightness which tells her Jesus is come.
He calls her by her name;

not with the tone of voice

which pierced her soul when he addressed her from the
Cross, but with an accent of joy and love, such as a son
would take when telling a mother that he had triumphed.
The Body which, three days ago, she had seen covered
with Blood and dead, is now radiant with life, beaming

with

the

her.

Who,

reflections

of divinity.

He

speaks

to her

words of tenderest affection, he embraces her, he kisses

we ask, would dare to describe this scene,

which the devout Abbot Rupert says so inundated the
soul of Mary with joy that it made her forget all the
sorrow she had endured ?
Nor must we suppose that the visit was a short one.
In one of the revelations granted to the seraphic St
Teresa, our Lord told her that when he appeared to his
blessed Mother immediately

after his Resurrection, he

found her so overwhelmed with grief that she would

soon have died; that it was not until several moments
had passed that she was able to realize the immense joy
of his presence; and that he remained a long time with

her, in order to console her.*
Let us who love this blessed Mother, and have seen

her offer up her Son on Calvary

for our sake,

let us

affectionately rejoice in the happiness wherewith Jesus
now repays her, and let us learn to compassionate

her

in her dolours. This is the first manifestation of our
risen Jesus: it is a just reward for the unwavering faith
which has dwelt in Mary’s soul during these three days,
when all but she had lost it. But it is time for him to
show himself to others, that so the glory of his Resurrection may be made known to the world. His first visit
was to her who is the dearest to him of all creatures,
and who well deserved the favour; now, in his goodness,

3 Lite of St Tersa, writtn by Hersl; i the Adaitions. See p. 402 i the translation by David Lewis, 1870.

PASCHAL TIME

106
he

is about

to console

those

devoted

women,

whose

grief is, perhaps, too human, but their love is firm, and
neither death nor the tomb have shaken it.
Yesterday,

when

sunset proclaimed

to the Jews the

end of the great Sabbath and the commencement of
the Sunday, Magdalen and her companions went into
the city and bought perfumes, wherewith this morning,

at break of day, they purpose embalming the Body of
their dear Master. They have spent a sleepless night.
Before the dawn of day, Magdalen, Mary (the mother
of James),

and

Salome,

are on the road that leads to

Calvary, for the sepulchre is there.

So intent are they

on the one object, that it never occurs to them until it is
too late to provide for the removing of the heavy stone

which closes the sepulchre.
the Governor,

be broken

before they can

these difficulties are quite overlooked.

It is early day-

enter;

which

must

There is the seal, too, of

there are the soldiers who

are keeping

guard:

break when they reach the tomb.

The first thing that

moved,

the sepulchre.

attracts their attention is, that the stone has been reso that

one

can

see into

The

angel of the Lord, who had received the mission to roll

back the stone, is seated on it, as upon a throne; he thus

addresses

the three

holy women,

who

are speechless

from astonishment and fear: ‘ Be not affrighted!

Ye

seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen,
he is not here.” Then encouraging them to enter the

sepu}chre, he adds: ‘ Behold the place where they laid
him I't

These words should fill them with joy: but no; their
faith is weak, and, as the Evangelist says, ‘ a trembling
and fear seize them.”? The dear Remains they are in
search of are gone: the angel tells them so: his saying
that

Jesus is risen fails to awaken

their faith in the

Resurrection: they had hoped to find the Body! While
in the sepulchre, two other angels appear to them, and
the place is filled with light. St Luke tells us that
Magdalen and her companions ‘bowed down their
3 St Mark xvi 6.
* Ibid. 8.

107
EASTER SUNDAY: MORNING
heads,” for they were overpowered with fear and disappointment. Then the angels said to them: ‘ Why seek
ye the Living with the dead ?

Remember how he spake

unto you, when he was yet in Galilee, saying: * The
Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again!”’*

These words make some impression upon the holy women,
and they begin to remember something of what our
Lord had said of his Resurrection.
‘Go!” said one of
the angels, ‘ tell his disciples and Peter, that he is going
before you into Galilee.’*
The three women leave the sepulchre and return with
haste to the city; they are full of fear, and yet there is
an irresistible feeling of joy mingled with their fear.
They relate what they have seen: they have seen angels,
and the sepulchre open, and Jesus’ Body was not there.
All three a?ee in their account; but the Apostles, as
the Evange ist tells us, set it down to womanish excite-

ment:
them

‘ Their words seem idle tales and they believe

not.”*

The

Resurrection,

of which

their

divine

Master had so clearly and so often spoken, never once
crosses their mind.

It is particularly to Peter and John

that Magdalen relates

the wonderful

things

she

seen and heard; but her own faith is still so weak!

has

She

went with the intention of embalming the Body of Jesus,
and she found it not! She can speak of nothing but her
disappointment: ‘ They have taken away the Lord out
;)lf thle sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid
im ¢

Peter and John determine to go
sepulchre. They enter. They see
lying ’® upon the slab whereon the
been placed; but the angels who are

themselves to the
the ‘linen cloths
Body of Jesus had
now keeping guard

in the holy cave appear not to them.

that this was the moment
Resurrection:

he believes.*

St John tells us

he received the faith in the
We are now merely giving

the history of the events of this greatest of days in the
1 St Luke xxivs, 6, 7.

« St John xx 2.

* St Mark xvi 7.

* Ioid. 6,

* St Luke xxiv 11.

¢ Ibid. 8.

PASCHAL TIME

108

order in which they occurred: we will afterwards meditate
upon them more leisurely, when the holy Liturgy brings

them before us.
So far, Jesus has appeared to no one save his blessed
Mother;

the holy women have only seen the angels who

spoke to them.

These heavenly spirits bade them go

his beams upon

the earth, and the hours of the grand

and announce the Resurrection of their Master to the
disciples and Peter. They are not told to bear the
message to Mary; the reason is obvious: Jesus has
already appeared to his Mother, and is with her while all
these events are happening. The sun is now shedding

morning are speeding onwards: the Man-God is about
to proclaim the triumph he has won for us over death.

Let us reverently follow him in each of these manifestations, and attentively study the lessons they teach us.
As soon as Peter and John have returned, Magdalen

hastens once more to the tomb of her dear Master. A
soul like hers, ever earnest, and now tormented with

anxiety, cannot endure to rest. Where is the Body of
Jesus ?
Perhaps being insulted by his enemies ? Having reached the door of the sepulchre, she bursts into
tears.

Looking in, she sees two angels, seated at either

end of the slab on which her Jesus had been laid.

They

my

him."

speak to her, for she knows not what to say: ‘Woman !
why weepest thou?’
*Because they have taken away
Lord,

and

I know

not where

they have

laid

Without waiting for the angels to reply, she tumns as
though she would leave the sepulchre; when lo! she
sees a man standing before her, and this man is Jesus.!
She does not recognize him: she is in search of the dead

Body of her Lord;

she is absorbed in the resolution of

giving it a second burial | Her love distracts her, for it
is a love that is not guided by faith; her desire to find
him as she thinks him to be blinds her from seeing him as
he really is—living, and near her.
Jesus, with his wonted condescension, speaks to
her: ‘Woman ! why weepest thou? Whom seekest
* St John xx.

EASTER
thou ?’

Magdalen

is dulled by an
her spirit does
fixed upon him;
this man is the

about

SUNDAY:
recognizes

MORNING

109

not this voice; her heart

excessive and blind sentiment of grief;
not as yet know Jesus. Her eyes are
but her imagination persuades her that
gardener, who has care of the ground

the sepulchre.

She thinks within herself, * This,

perhaps, is he that has taken my Jesus!” and thereupon

she thus speaks to him: ‘Sir, if thou hast taken him
hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away.” How is our loving Redeemer to withstand
this ? If he praised her for the love she showed him in
the pharisee’s house, we may be sure he will now reward
this affectionate simplicity. A single word, spoken
to her with the tone of voice she so well understood,
is enough : ‘ Mary I’ ‘ Master !’ exclaims the delighted
and humble Magdalen.? All is now clear: she believes.
She rushes forward:

as on the happy

she would kiss those sacred feet,

day when

she received her pardon;

but Jesus stays her; this is not the time for such a

demonstration of her affection.
Magdalen, the first
witness of the Resurrection, is to be raised, in reward

of her love, to the high honour of publishing the great
mystery. It is not fitting that the blessed Mother
should reveal the secret favour she has received from
her Son: Magdalen is to proclaim what she has seen
and heard at the sepulchre, and become, as the holy
Fathers express it, the Apostle of the very Apostles.
Jesus says to her: ‘ Go to my brethren, and say to them:

T ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and

your God.”®

The

second apparition of Jesus, then,

is to Mary

Magdalen: it is the first in testimony of his Resurrection,

for the one to his blessed Mother was for another object.
The Church will bring it before us on the Thursday of this

week, and we will then make it the subject of our meditation.

At present, let us adore the infinite goodness of

our Redeemer, who, before seeking to fix the faith of his

Resurrection in them that are to preach it to all nations,
1St John xx 15
* bid. 16.
* Ibid. 7.

110

PASCHAL

deigns

to

recompense

the

TIME
love

of this

woman,

who

followed him even to the Cross, was faithful to him after
his death, and loved him most, because most forgiven.
By thus showing himself to Magdalen, Jesus teaches
us that he is more anxious to satisfy the love he bears
his faithful creature than to provide for his own glory.
Magdalen loses no time in doing her Master’s bidding.
She hastens back to the city, and having come to the
disciples, says to them: ‘ I have seen the Lord, and these
things he said to me.”* But as yet they have not faith;
John alone has received that gift, although he has seen
nothing - more. than the empty sepulchre. Let us remember that after having fled like the rest of the disciples,
he followed Jesus to Calvary, was present at his death,
and was made the adopted son of Mary.
Meanwhile, Magdalen’s two companions, Salome and
Mary the mother of James, are following her, though
Jesus
slowly and at some distance, to Jerusalem.
meets them, and greets them, saying: * All hail.”* Overcome with joy they fall down and adore him, and kiss
his sacred feet. It is the third apparition; and they that
are favoured with it are permitted to do what was denied
Before
to the more favoured and fervent Magdalen.
the day is over, Jesus will show himself to them whom
he has chosen as the heralds of his glory; but he first
wishes to honour those generous women who, braving
every danger, and triumphing over the weakness of their

sex, were more faithful to him, in his Passion, than the
men

he had so highly honoured as to make them his

Apostles.

When he was born in the stable at Bethlehem,

the first he called to worship him in his crib were some
poor shepherds; he sent his angels to invite them to go
to him, before he sent the star to call the magi. So
now,—when he has reached the summit of his glory, put
the finish to all his works by his Resurrection, and confirmed our faith in his divinity by the most indisputable
miracle,—he does not begin by instructing and enlightening his Apostles, but by instructing, consoling, and most
+ St John xx 18,
* St Matt. xxviii 9,

EASTER

SUNDAY:

pasd

MORNING

affectionately honouring these humble but courageous
women. How admirable are the dispensations of our God !
How sweet, and yet how strong !*

Well does he say to us

by his prophet: ‘ My thoughts are not your thoughts!’
Let us suppose, for a moment, that we had been
permitted to arrange the order of these two mysteries.

We should have summoned the whole world, kings and

people, to go and pay homage at the crib.

We should

have trumpeted to all nations the miracle of miracles,
the Resurrection of the Crucified, the victory over death,

the restoration

of mankind

to immortality!

But

he

who is ‘ the power and wisdom of God,’ Christ Jesus our

Lord, has followed a very different plan.

When born in

Bethlehem he would have for his first worshippers a few

simple-minded shepherds,
great event was confined
the birthday of this little
civilized nation. For the
tion

he chose

three

weak

whose power to herald the
to their own village: and yet
Child is now the era of every
first witnesses of his Resurrecwomen;

and

yet

the whole

earth is now, at this very moment, celebrating the anni-

versary of this Resurrection. There s in it a mysterious
feeling of joy unlike that of any other day throughout
the year: no one can resist it, not even the coldest heart.

The infidel who scoffs at the believer knows at least that
this is Easter Sunday. Yea, in the very countries

where paganism and idolatry are still rife, there are Chris-

tians whose voices unite with ours in singing the glorious
Alleluia to our risen Jesus. Let us then cry out as
Moses did, when the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea,
and were keeping their first Pasch: * Who, O Lord, is like
unto thee, among the strong ?’¢
We will resume our history of the Resurrection when
we come to the hour of each apparition. It is now time
for us to unite with the Church in her Office of Matins.
She has spent the greatest part of the night in administering that holy Sacrament of regeneration, which gives

her a new people; and now she is about to offer to God

the wonted tribute of her praise.
1 Wisd. viii 1.
*lsa.lv8
%1 Corizn.

¢ Exod. xv 1.

112

PASCHAL TIME
THE OFFICE OF MATINS

The Night-Office of every Sunday throughout the
year consists of three portions, called Nocturns. Each
Nocturn is composed of three Psalms with their Antiphons, followed by three Lessons and Responsories.
These Nocturns are preceded by a Psalm, which is
called the Invitatory, and end with the Ambrosian Hymn,

the Te Deum ; they begin after midnight, and are over
by the aurora, when the still more solemn Office of Lauds

is chanted. But this night has been almost wholly
spent in the administration of Baptism, and when the
holy Sacrifice is finished, it is close upon the hour of
sunrise.

It

is

necessary,

therefore,

to

shorten

the

usual Night-Office, in order that the Canticles, wherewith the Church welcomes the return of light—the work

and type of her divine Spouse—may be sung at the very
time when the sun is shedding his first rays upon the
earth. This is the reason of there being only one Nocturn for the Night-Office! of Easter Sunday.
After the secret recitation of the Pater, Ave, and Credo,

the Church thus begins her Matins:

¥. Domine, labia mea aperes,
R. Et 0s meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.
¥. Deus, in adjutorium
meum intende.
®. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria_Patri, et Filio, et
Spiritui Sancto;
Sicut erat in principio, et

nunc, et semper, et in sacula_seculorum. Amen. AlleIuia.
Then

¥.0 Lord! thou wilt open
my lips.
R. And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
¥. Incline unto my aid, O
God.
R. O Lord, make haste to
belp me.
Glory be to the Father, and to
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning,
is now,
and ever shall be,
world

Alleluia.

without

end.

Amen.

follows, with the glad chorus announcing the

Resurrection, the Invitatory Psalm, whereby the Church
1 The modem appellation of Mafins has been given
Offce
because it is siow celebrated
in the morming. to this scken o f

the Divis

i

EASTER SUNDAY:

MATINS

113

invites her children to come and adore the Lord their
God.

To-day,

it is the

angels who

tell the

mystery

to Magdalen and her companions: let us listen to the
glorious tidings, for they are addressed to us also.

Surrexit
Alleluia.

Dominus

INVITATORY
vere,
The Lord hath truly risen,
Alleluia.

PSALM 94
Venite, exsultemus DomiCome, let us praise the Lord
no, jubilemus Deo Salutari with_joy, let us joyfully sing
nostro, preoccupemus faci- to God our Saviour; let us
em ejus in_confessione, et in come before his presence with
‘psalmis jubilemus ei.
thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
Surrexit Dominus vere,
The Lord hath truly risen,
Alleluia,
Alleluia.
Quoniam Deus magnus DoFor the Lord is a great God,
minus, et Rex magnus super and a great King above all gods;
omnes deos: quoniam non re- for in his hand are all the ends
pellet Dominus plebem suam, of the earth, and the heights of
quia in manu ejus sunt omnes the mountains are his.
fines terr, et altitudines montium ipse conspicit.
Alleluia,
Allcluia.
Quoniam_ipsius est mare
For the sea is his, and he
et ipse fecit illud, et aridam made it, and his hands formed
fundaverunt manus ejus. Ve- the dry land. Come, let us
nite, adoremus, et procidamus adore and fall down before God:
ante Deum: ploremus coram let us weep before the Lord
Domino_qui_fecit nos, quia that made us, for he is the Lord
ipse est Dominus Deus noster: our God: and we are his people,
nos autem populus ejus, et and the sheep of his pasture.
oves pascuz ejus.
Surrexit Dominus vere,
The Lord hath truly risen,
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Hodie si_vocem ejus auTo-day, if ye shall hear his
dieritis, nolite obdurare cor- voice, harden mot your hearts,
da_vestra, sicut in exacer- as in the provocation accordbatione, secundum diem tenta- ing to the day of temptation
tionis in deserto: ubi tenta- in_ the wilderness: where your
verunt me patres vestri, pro- fathers tempted me, me the Lord ;
baverunt, et viderunt opera “they proved me, and saw my
works.
mea.
Alleluia,
Alleluia,

114

PASCHAL

Quadraginta annis proximus fui generationi huic, et
dixi: Semper hi errant corde: ipsi vero non_cognoverunt vias meas, quibus juravi in ira mea, si introibunt
in requiem meam.

TIME
Forty years was I nigh unto

this generation, and 1 said:
These always e in heart:
and these men have.not known
my ways; so I swore in my
wrath that they shall not enter
into my rest.
The Lord hath truly risen,
Surrexit
Dominus
vere,
Alleluia,
Alleluia.
et
Filio,
et
Patri,
Glory be to the Father, and
Glor
to the Son, and to the Holy
Spiritui Sancto;
Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning,
Sicut erat in principio, et
nunc et semper, et in s is now, and ever shall be, world
cula seculorum, ~Amen.
without end. Amen.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
The Lord hath truly risen,
Surrexit Dominus
vere,
alleluia.
alleluia.
The Invitatory is always followed by a Hymn; but
out of a motive of respect for this great Solemnity, the
Church would observe the ancient form of her Offices,
in which there were no Hymns, for they were not introduced till a comparatively later period. She observes
this same exclusion of Hymns during the whole week.

After the Invitatory, then, immediately follow the three

Psalms.
The first speaks of the virtues and happiness of the
just man, and as the holy Fathers have interpreted it,
refers to Christ, who is the New Man that came down
from heaven; he was the faithful observer of the divine
law, which the first Adam transgressed; the eternal

Father glorified him on this day of his Resurrection.

ANT. Ego
et consilium
cum impiis:
‘mini voluntas

sum qui sum,
ANT. I am who am, and my
meum non est counsel is not with the unsed in lege Do- godly: but my will is in the
mea est, alleluia. law of the Lord, alleluia.
PSALM I

Beatus vir qui non abiit
in’ consilio impiorum, et in
via
torum non’ stetit:
et in cathedra pestilentiz non
sedit.

Blessed is the man who hath
not walked in the counsel of
the ungodly, nor stood in the
way of sinners, nor sat in the
chair of pestilence.

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SUNDAY:

MATINS

115

But his will is in_the law of
Sed in lege Domini voluntes ejus: et in lege ejus the Lord, and on his law he
‘meditabitur die ac nocte.
shall meditate day and night.
Et erit tanquam lignum
And he shall be like a tree,
quod plantatum est secus which is planted near the rundecursus aquarum: quod fruc- ning waters; which shall bring
tum suum dabit in tempore forth its fruit in due season.
suo.
Et folium ejus non deAnd his leaf shall not fall
fluet: et omnia quzcumque off; and all whatsoever he shall
do shall prosper.
faciet, prosperabuntur.
Not 5o the wicked, not so: but
Non sic impii, non sic: sed
tanquam pulvis, quem proji- like the dust, which the wind
cit ventus a facie terre.
driveth from the face of the
earth,
Ideo non resurgent impii
Therefore the wicked shall
in judicio: neque peccatores not rise again in judgement: nor
in concilio justorum.
sinners in the council of the just.
Quoniam novit Dominus
For the Lord knoweth the
viam justorum: et iter im- way of the just: and the way
of the wicked shall perish.
piorum peribit.
ANT. Ego sum qui sum,
ANT. T am who am, and my
et consilium meum non est counsel is mot with the uncum impiis: sed in lege Do- godly: but my will is in the
‘mini voluntas
mea est, alleluia. Iaw of the Lord, alleluia.
The second Psalm tells us how the Synagogue formed
a plot against Christ. The Jews put to death the Messias
who came to save them; but they could not prevent his
Resurrection.

He is the Son of Man, but he is also the

Son of God: he begins his reign over the whole human
race this very day. Woe to Israel that knew not the
day of his visitation !

AN, Postulavi Patrem me-

um, alleluia: dedit mihi gentes,
in
hereditatem,

Ant. 1 have asked of my
Father, alleluia: he hath given
me the gentiles, alleluia, for an
inheritance, alleluia.

PSALM 2

Quare fremuerunt gentes:
Why have the gentiles raged,
et popull meditati sunt ina- and the people devised vain
nia
things ?
Adstiterunt reges terre, et
The kings of the earth stood
principes _ convenerunt
in
unum: adversus Dominum, SEinaersgainst
the
Lord
and
, anc
et adversus Christum ejus.
against his Christ.

PASCHAL

116

Dirumpamus _vincula eorum: et projiciamus a nobis jugum ipsorum.
Qui habitat in ceelis, irridebit eos: et Dominus subsannabit eos.
Tunc loquetur ad eos in
ira sua: et in furore suo conturbabit eos.
Ego autem constitutus sum
Rex ab co super Sion montem
sanctum ejus: pradicans preceptum ejus.
Dominus dixit ad me: Filius meus cs tu, ego hodie
genui te.
Postula a_ me, et dabo
tibi gentes hereditatem tu:

et

terminos

possessionem

terra.

tuam

Reges cos in virga ferrea:
et tanquam vas figuli confringes eos.
Et nunc, reges, intelligite : erudimini qui’ judicatis
terram.
Servite Domino in timore:
et exultate ei cum

tremore.

Apprehendite
disciplinam,
nequando irascatur Dominus:
et pereatis de via justa.
um_exarserit in brevi ira
ejus: beati omnes qui confidunt in co.
ANT. Postulavi Patrem meum, alleluia: dedit mihi gentes,
alleluia, in hazreditatem, alleluia.

TIME

They said: Let us break
their bonds asunder: and let
us cast away their yoke from us.
He that dwelleth in heaven
shall laugh at them: and the
Lord shall deride them.
Then shall he speak to them
in his anger, and trouble them
in his rage.
But I am appointed King
by bim over Sion, his holy
mountain, preaching his com‘mandment.
The Lord hath said to me:
Thou art my Son, this day have
1 begotten thee.
Ask of me, and I will give
thee the gentiles for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts
of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt rule them with a
rod of iron, and shalt break them
in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
And now, O ye kings, understand: receive ~instruction, ye
that judge the carth.
Serve ye the Lord with fear:
and rejoice unto him with
trembling.
Embrace _discipline, lest at
any time the Lord be angry,
and ye perish from the just way.
When his wrath shall be
kindled in a short time, blessed
are all they that trust in him.
ANT. 1 have asked of my
Father, alleluia: he hath given
me the gentiles, alleluia, for an
inheritance, alleluia.

The third Psalm is a prophecy of the Resurrection of
Christ.
His enemies would have that he was abandoned
by God.

He slept in the tomb;

but God protected him,

and he arose, the conqueror of his adversaries.

ANT. Eg
dormivi,
et
ANT. I have slept, and taken
somnum cep et exsurrexi, my sleep: and I have risen up,
quoniam
Dominus suscepit because the Lord hath pro-me. Alleluia, alleluia.
tected me. Alleluia, alleluia.

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SUNDAY:

MATINS

117

PSALM 3
Domine, quid multiplicati
Why, O Lord, are they mulsunt qui tribulant me ? multi tiplied that aflict me? Many
insurgunt adversum me,
are they who rise up against me.
Multi dicunt anima mez:
Many say to my soul: There is
Non est salus ipsi in Deo ejus. no salvation for him in his God.
But thou, O Lord, art my
Tu autem, Domine, susceptor meus es: gloria mea, protector, my glory, and the
et exaltans caput meum.
fter up of my head.
Voce mea ad Dominum
I have cried to the Lord
clamavi: et exaudivit me de with my voice: and he hath
‘monte sancto suo.
heard me from his holy hill.
Ego dormivi, et soporaThaveslept, and have takenmy
tus sum: et exsurrexi, quia Do- rest: and I have risen up, because
‘minus suscepit me.
the Lord hath protected me.
Non timebo millia populi
T will not fear thousands of
circumdantis me: exsurge the people surrounding me: arise,
Domine, salvum me fac, Deus 0O Lord, save me, O my God.
meus.
.
Quoniam
tu
percussisti
For thou hast struck all them
omnes adversantes mihi sine who are my adversaries without
causa: dentes peccatorum con- cause: thou hast broken the
trivisti.
teeth of sinners.
Domini est salus: et suSalvation is of the Lord:
per populum tuum benedictio and thy blessing is upon thy
tua,
people.
ANT. T have slept, and taken
ANT. Ego dormivi, et somnum cepi: et exsurrexi, quo- my sleep: and I have risen up,
niam Dominus suscepit me. because the Lord hath proAlleluia, alleluia.
tected me. Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. Surrexit Dominus de
¥. The Lord hath risen from
se ulcla’o. alleluia,
the tomb, alleluia.
R. Who for our sake was
. Qui pro nobis pependit
in ligno, alleluia.
nailed to the Cross, alleluia.
The priest begins the first two words of the Lord’s
Prayer:
Pater noster.

Our Father.

The rest is said in silence, as far as the last two petitions; when the priest says aloud:

¥. Et ne nos inducas in

tentationem.

_¥. And lead us not into tempta-

tion.

The choir answers:

Ry. Sed libera nos a malo.

. But deliver us from evil.

PASCHAL TIME

118

Then the priest:

Jesu
Domine
Exaudi,
Christe, preces servorum’ tuorum, et miserere nobis, qui
cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto
vivis et regnas
in secula seculorum.

_ Graciously hear, O Lord
Christ, the prayers of
servants, and have mercy
us: who with the Father
the Holy Ghost livest
reignest for ever and ever.

Jesus
= thy
upon
and
and

The choir answers:

Amen.

Amen.

Then one of the choir turns towards the priest, and,

bowing down, says:
Jube,

Domne,

benedicere.

.

Pray, Father, give thy bless-

ing.

The priest gives his blessing in these words:

BrngpicTio.
Evangelica
BLESSING. May the reading
lectio sit nobis salus et pro- of the Gospel bring us salvation
tectio.
and protection.
R. Amen.
R. Amen.
He who asked the blessing, then reads the first few
words of the Gospel for the Mass of Easter Sunday:
after this he opens the homilies of St Gregory the Great,
from which he takes a few passages as a commentary
upon the sacred text.

Lectio

sancti

E:

ecunden Mo
Cap. XVI.

i

In illo tempore: Maria
Mapialonc, of Mess Theold:

Lesson from

the holy

according to Mark.

Gospel

Ch. XVI.

At that time, Mary Magdadom, sud Mzrygtha othe o

et
Salome, emerunt aromata: James, and Salome, bought sweet
ut venientes ungerent Jesum. spices, that coming they might
Et reliqua.
anoint Jesus. And the Test.
LESSON

1

Homilia sancti Gregorii
Homily of St Gregory,
Pape.
Pope.
Audistis, fratres charissimi,
You have heard, dearly bequod sanctz mulieres, qua loved brethren, how the holy

EASTER

119
women, who had followed the
Lord, came, with sweet spices,
to the sepulchre, and how, having
loved him while he lived, they
would honour him, now that
he is dead, with proofs of their
affection. But this that they
did, teaches what we, the mem.
bers of the Church, should do:
for we should so hearken to
what was done, as that we may
learn what we must do in order
to imitate them.
Now, we who
believe in him who was dead,
if laden with the fragrance
of virtue, and with the reputation of good works, we seek
the Lord, we may truly be
said to come to the sepulchre
with sweet spices. Moreover, the
women, who came with sweet
spices, saw angels; for those
souls do come to the vision of
the heavenly citizens, who, fragrant in_virtue, tend to their
Lord by holy desires.
K.
The angel of the Lord
descended from heaven, and
coming, rolled back the stone,
and sat upon_it, and said to
the ‘women: Fear not: for I
know that ye seek the Crucified :
he is risen: come and see the
place where the Lord was laid,
alleluia,
Y. And entering into the
sepulchre, they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed
with a white robe; and they
were astonished: who saith to
them:
Fear not, etc.
Glory be to the Father,
etc.
ea: The angel of the
LoBLEssING, May 2the divine
assistance remain always with
us. K. Amen.

SUNDAY:

Dominum _fuerant ~ secut,
cum aromatibus ad monumentum venerunt, et ei quem
viventem _dilexerant, etiam
mortuo studio humanitatis
obsequuntur. Sed res gesta,
aliquid in sancta Ecclesia
signat gerendum. _Sic quippe
necesse est audiamus qua
facta sunt, quatenus cogitemus etiam qua nobis sunt ex
corum imitatione facienda.
Et nos ergo in eum, qui_est
mortuus, credentes, si odore
virtutum _referti, cum _opi
one bonorum operum Domi
num quarimus, ad monumentum_profecto illius_cum aromatibus venimus. Illz autem
mulieres angelos vident, qua
cum
aromatibus venerunt:
quia videlicet illz mentes
supernos cives aspiciunt, quz
cum _virtutum odoribus ~ ad
Dominum per sancta desideria
‘proficiscuntur.
. “Angelus Domini _descendit de czlo, et accedens
revolvit lapidem, et super
eum sedit, et dixit mulieribus: Nolite timere: scio enim
quia crucifixum queritis, jam
surrexit: venite et videte locum, ubi positus erat Dominus, ‘alleluia.
Y. Et introeuntes in monumentum, viderunt juvenem

sedentem in dextris, coopertum stola candida, et obstupuerunt; qui dixit illis:
Nolite timere, etc.
Gloria Patri, etc.

Repeat : Angelus Domini.
Bexepictio.
Divinum
auxilium maneat semper
nobiscum. K. Amen.

MATINS

PASCHAL

120

TIME

LESSON 11

Notandum vero nobis est,
quidnam sit, quod in dextris sedere angelus cernitur.
Quid namque per sinistram
Risi vita praesens: quid vero
per dexteram, nisi aerpet\_la
vita _designatur ? Unde in
Canticis canticorum
scriptum est: Lazva ejus sub
capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me. Quia
ergo Redemptor noster jam
praesentis vitz
corruptionem
transierat,‘ recte
angelus qui nuntiaze perennem ejus vitam venerat, in
dextera sedebat. Qui stola
candida coopertus apparuit:
quia festivitatis nostre gaudia

nuntiavit.

Candor

et-

enim vestis, splendorem nostre denuntiat solemnitatis,
Nostre, dicamus an_suz ?
Sed ut fateamur verius,
et
suz dicamus, et nostre. Tlla
quippe Redemptoris _nostri
resurrectio et nostra festivitas fuit, quia nos ad immortalitatem reduxit: et angelorum festivitas exstitit, quia
nos revocando ad ceelestia,
eorum numerum implevit.
R. Cum transisset Sabbatum, Maria Magdalene, et
Maria Jacobi, et Salome,
emerunt aromata: Ut venientes ungerent Jesum, alleIuia, alleluia.
¥. Et valde mane una
sabbatorum veniunt ad monumentum, orto jam sole.
Ut venientes.
Gloria Patri.
Ut venientes.

Let

us also take

notice,

how

the angel is seen to be seated
on the right hand. What
means this? This present life
is signified by the left hand;
eternal life by the right. Hence
we have in the Canticle of
Canticles: His left hand_is
under my head, and his right
hand shall embrace me. Because, therefore, our Redeemer
had passed from this present
corruptible life, it was fitting
that the angel, who came to
announce his immortal life,
should sit on the right side,
The angel was clad in a white
Tobe, because he came to herald
the joy of our feast. The
beauty of his robe tells us of
the splendour of our solemnity. Ought I not to say his
rather than owrs? To speak
correctly, the solemnity is both

his and ours; for our Redeemer's Resurrection was our feast,
because it restored us to immortality; and it was the feast
of the angels, because, by recalling us to heaven, it filled
up their number.
R. When the Sabbath was
past,
Mary
Magdalen,
and
Mary, the mother of James,
and " Salome, bought - sweet
spices, that coming, they might
anoint Jesus, alleluia, alleluia.
Y. And very early in the
morning, the = first day of
the week, they come to the
sepulchre, the sun being now
risen.
That coming.
Glory be to the Father.
That coming.

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SUNDAY:

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121

BLESSING. May the King of
Benzoictio. Ad societatem civium supernorum per- angels lead us to the societyof
ducat nos Rex angelorum. heavenly citizens. K. Amen.
K. Amen.
LESSON IIT

In sua ergo ac nostra festivitate angelus in albis vestibus apparuit:
quia dum
nos_per resurrectionem Dominicam ad superna_reducimur, ceelestis patriz _damna Treparantur. Sed quid
advenientes feminas affatur,
audiamus. Nolite expavescere. Ac si aperte dicat:
Paveant illi, qui non amant
adventum _supernorum civium: pertimescant, qui carnalibus desideriis pressi, ad
eorum se societatem pertingere posse desperant. Vos
autem cur pertimescitis quz
vestros _concives
videtis 7
Unde _Matthzus
angelum
apparuisse describens, ait:
Tat aspectus ejus sicut fulgur, et vestimenta ejus sicut
nix. In fulgore etenim terror timoris est, in nive autem blandimentum : candotis.
HYMN

On this, then, both his and
our feast, the angel appeared
clad in white robes, because,
when we were restored to
heaven by Jesus' Pesurrection,
the_celestial country recovered
its losses. But let us listen to
the words he addresses to the
women on their coming to the
sepulchre: Fear not! says he.
It was as though he said:
‘Let them fear that love not
the visit of heaven's citizens:
let them fear who, being weighed down by carnal desires, despair of ever being able to reach
heaven. But why should you
fear, who behold here your
fellow-citizens _ Hence, St
Matthew, describing the angel’s apparition, says: His countenance was as lightning, and
his raiment
as snow. The lightning
expresses something that
causes fear; the snow denotes
the affability of a sincere friend.

OF THANKSGIVING
We prathee,
ise
te
O God

Te Deum laudamus:
Dominum confitemur.
Te ternum Patrem: omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes angeli: tibi
ceeli, et universe potestates.
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim: incessabili voce proclamant.
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth |
Pleni sunt ceeli et terra
‘majestatis gloriz tuz.

| we acknowledge thee to be our Lord.
Thee, the Father everlasting, all the earth doth worship.
To thee the angels, to thee
the heayens,and all the powers:
To_thee the Cherubim and
Seraphi
TRg: m cry out without ceasHoly, holy, holy, Lord God
of Sabaoth I
:
Full are the heavens and
the earth of the majesty of
thy glory.

122

PASCHAL

Te gloriosus Apostolorum
chorus.
Te prophetarum laudabilis numerus.
Te martyrum candidatus
laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum
sancta confitetur Ecclesia,
Patrem immense majestatis,
Venerandum tuum verum,
et unicum Filium,
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.
Tu Rex glori, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es
Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uteram.
Tu devicto_ mortis aculeo,
aperuisti credentibus regna
ceelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes: in gloria Patris.
Judex crederis esse venturis.

TIME

Thee the glorious choir of
the Apostles.
Thee the laudable company
of the prophets.
Thee the white-robed army
of martyrs doth praise.
Thee the
holy Church
throughout the world doth
acknowledge,
The Father of incomprehensible majesty.
Thy adorable, true, and only
Son,
And .the Holy Ghost, the
Paraclete.
Thou, O Christ, art the King
of glory.
hou art the everlasting Son
of the Father.
Thou being to take upon
thee to deliver man, didst not
disdain the Virgin's womb.
Thou, having overcome the
sting of death, hast opened to
believers the kingdom of heaven.
Thou_sittest at the right
hand of God, in the glory of
the Father.
Thee we believe to be the
Judge to come.

AUl kneel at the following verse :

Te ergo quaesumus, tuis
famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Zterna fac cum _sanctis
tuis in gloria numerari.
Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine: et benedic
bareditati tuz,
Et rege eos, et extolle
illos usque in ternum.
Per singulos dies benedicimus te.
Etlaudamus nomen tuum in
szculum: etin seculum szculi.
Dignare, Domine, die isto,
sine peccato nos custodire.

We beseech thee, therefore,
to help thy servants, whom
thou hast redeemed with thy
precious Blood.
Make them to be numbered
with thy saints in eternal glory.
O Lord, save thy people,
and bless thine inheritance.
And govern them,
them for ever.

and

exalt

Every day, we magnify thee.
And we praise thy name
for ever and ever.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep
us this day without sin.

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SUNDAY:

MATINS

123

Miserere nostri, Domine:
Have mercy on us, O Lord,
‘miserere nostri.
have mercy on us.
Fiat misericordia tua, DoLet thy mercy, O Lord, be
mine, super nos, quemadmo- upon us, as we have put our
dum speravimus in te.
trust in thee.
In thee, O Lord, have I put
In te, Domine, speravi:
non confundar in @ternum, ~ my trust: let me not be confounded for ever.
In most of the churches in the West, during the Middle

Ages, as soon as the third Lesson was read, and before
the Te Deum,

the clergy went in procession, singing a

Responsory, to the chapel where the Blessed Sacrament
had been kept since Maunidy Thursday, which was called

the Chapel of the Sepulchre.
in albs, and

panions.

represented

Three clerics were vested

Magdalen

and her two

com-

When the procession reached the chapel, two

deacons, in white dalmatics, who were standing at either
end of the tomb, thus addressed the three clerics:

Quem queritis in sepulchro, o christicolz ?

Whom seek you in the
sepulchre, friends of Christ ?

The clerics answered:

Jesum Nazarenum, o ceelicolae |
Then

Jesus of Nazareth,
citizens of heaven |

O

ye

the deacons:

urrexit sicat
He is not here; he hath
, nunciate quia risen as he foretold: go, say
that he is risen.

The three clerics here went to the altar, and, raising
up the cloths which covered it, they reverently kissed
the stone. Then turning towards the bishop and the
clergy, they sang these words:

Alleluia | Resurrexit DoAlleluia | This day the Lord
minus hodie: resurrexit Leo hath risen: the strong Lion,
fortis, Christus Filius Dei. ~ Christ the Son of God, hath
risen.

Two cantors stepped forward towards the altar steps,
on which the clerics were standing, and addressed them
in these words of the Sequence:
Dic nobis, Maria,

Quid vidistis in via ?

Tell us, O Mary, what sawest

thou on the way 7

124

PASCHAL

TIME

The first cleric, who represented Magdalen, answered:

I saw the sepulchre of the
Christi viSepulchrum
Ventis,
living Christ: I saw the glory
Et gloriam vidi resurgentis.
of him that had risen.
The second cleric, who represented Mary, the mother
of James, added:

Angelicos testes,
Sudarium et vestes.

I saw the angels that were
the witnesses: I saw the winding-sheet and the cloths.

The third cleric, who represented Salome, completed

the reply thus:

Surrexit
Christus spes _ Christ, my hope, hath risen |
mea,
He shall go before you into
Pracedet vos in Galilzam.. Galilee.
The two cantors answered with this protest of faith:

Credendum est magis soli
It behoves us to believe the
Mariz veraci,
single testimony of the truthuam Judzorum
ful Mary, rather than the whole
v cohorti.
host of wicked Jews.
Then the whole of the clergy joined in this acclamation:
Scimus

Christum

rexisse
A mortuis vere:

Tu

_nobis,

victer

sur-

‘We

know

that

Christ

hath

truly risen from the dead.
Do
thou, O conqueror and King!

Rex, have mercy on us.

The two deacons then opened the tabernacle. Taking
the pyx, in which was the Blessed Sacrament, they laid it
upon a portable throne, or brancard, and the procession
returned to the high altar. Clouds of incense perfumed
the way, and the following beautiful Responsory was
enthusiastically sung. The first part is composed of
words from the Epistle of St Paul to the Romans; the
Versicle is taken from the Greek Liturgy. The music is
worthy of the words.
. Christus

ol
o
e
Banttar?
M
G
mors illi ultra non

tur;

quod

resur

X

dominabienim
mortuus

. Christ_risis

in

frox

His e s manee:

death shall no more have dominion over him; for in that

EASTER

SUNDAY:

125

MATINS

est
mortuus
peccato,
est
semel:
Quod
autem
vivit,
vivit Deo, alleluia, alleluia.

once: but
he died, he died
in that he liveth, he 'hveth
unto God, alleluia, alleluia.

quomodo
milites
sepulchrum
entes

us,

Y. Dicant nunc Judmi,

custodirdide-

V. Let the Jews now tell
how
the
soldiers,
who
arded the sepulchre, lost the

runt Regem, ad lapidis positionem; quare non serva-

King, though
had placed
a rock over him. Why kept

surgentem adorent nobiscum

buried One, or adore with us

bant Petram justitiz ? Aut
sepultum
reddant,
aut re-

dicentes:
Quod autem vivit, vivit
Deo, alleluia, alleluia.

they
not the Rock of justice ?
Either let them
restore
the

the risen One, saying: But in
that he liveth, he liveth unto
God, alleluia, allelnia.

The procession having reached the sanctuary, the
deacons placed the blessed Sacrament upon the altar.
The bishop, after offering the homage of incense, entoned

the Te Deum, in thanksgiving for the Resurrection of our
Redeemer.
This touching ceremony, which probably originated

what

were

called

The

traditions of the Roman

Mysteries,

was not

one

of the

Liturgy; still, it was an ex-

pression of the lively and simple faith of the Middle Ages.

It gradually fell into disuse during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, when men became absorbed in

material things, and lost that appreciation of the supernatural which their forefathers loved to encourage by
every

possible

means.

The

ceremony

we

have

just

described varied in the manner of its being carried out;
but we have given its chief traits, such as we find them

mentioned in the ancient Ordinaries of our cathedrals.
The Churches of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland
keep up, even to this day, the custom borrowed from
the Orientals, of spending the night preceding Easter
Sunday in prayer. At break of day, the hour of the
Resurrection, the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the
sepulchre, and a solemn Benediction is given. Up to
quite a recent period, in certain towns of Spain, two
processions started from the principal church: in one
was borne a statue of the Blessed Virgin, which was
covered with a veil; in the other, the Blessed Sacrament

PASCHAL

126

was carried under a canopy.
marched

in silence

through:

TIME
The two separated, and

the

streets,

until the

sun

appeared on the horizon, when they met at an appointed

place. The veil that covered the statue of the holy
Mother of God was then removed, and the whole people
sang the Anthem, Regina celi, letare ! thus commemorating the joy experienced by Mary when she was visited
by Jesus after his Resurrection, that same Jesus who
was there really present in the adorable Sacrament.
The two processions then returned together to the
church.
Another demonstration of Paschal joy consisted in
the

kiss of peace

given

by the faithful in the church

at the announcement of the Resurrection hour.

This

custom, which was taken from the Oriental Churches, was

kept up in the west until the sixteenth century. In
some places, it was at the beginning of Matins that this

kiss of peace was given, and with these words: Surrexit

Christus I—Christ is risen!
In others, again, it was given
after the ceremony we have been describing.
In the

Greek Liturgy, the following stanzas were sung during
the time:

Pascha jucundissimum,
Pascha
Domini,
Pascha,
Pascha _ sacratissimum, il
luxit nobis, Pascha | in gaudio nos invicem amplexemur, O Pascha, tristitiz
pretium | etenim ex sepulchro, tanquam ex thalamo,
Christus hodie _resplendens,
mulieres lzta_dulcedine replevit, dicens: Pradicate Apostolis.
Dies est Resurrectionis:
splendescamus, diem festum
agentes, et amplexemur nos
invicem, fratres nuncupemus
etiam odientes nos; omnia
dimittamus propter Resurrectionem, et ita clamemus:
Surrexit Christus a mortuis,
mortem morte conterens, et

_ The most joyous Pasch, the
Pasch of the Lord, the Pasch,
the most holy Pasch, has shone
upon us! let us embrace each
other with joy. O Paschl
thou recompense of our sorrow! for from his sepulchre,
as from a bride-chamber, Christ
hath this day risen resplendent,
and hath filled the women with
glad consolation,
saying to
them: Tell it to my Apostles |
It is the Resurrection day:
let us be radiant with joy as
we keep the feast, and let us
embrace one another, and call
even them that hate us, brethren. Let us forgive all offences
for the Resurrection’s sake, and
thus let us sing: Christ hath
risen from

the dead;

he hath

EASTER SUNDAY: LAUDS
127
jacentibus in monumentis conquered death by death, and
vitam suppeditans.
hath given life to them that
lay in their graves.

We are all brethren: Jesus’ Resurrection has made
us doubly so, for, as the Apostle says, he is ‘ the Firstborn from the dead.” He made us brethren by assuming
our nature in his Incarnation; he renewed and made
closer the fraternity by rising from the tomb, and opening
to each of us the path to immortality. He is our elder
Brother in that new life which dieth now no more.
‘Whilst celebrating
his victory, let us all be united
together in mutual

charity: it is his wish, it is the Pasch:

it is the banquet-day of fraternal love |

LAUDS
Every

day throughout

the year, the Church

offers

a special service to God, which is intended as the Office

of the aurora. It is called Lauds, because it is mainly
composed of Psalms of praise. The mystery honoured
by this Morning-Service is the Resurrection: how fervently, how joyously, ought we to sing our Lauds on the
very day of that grand mystery | Let us, therefore,
unite with our dear mother the Church: she is beaming
with gladness; for her Jesus, her Sun of justice, whose

light has been clouded for three long days, is now risen
in all his splendour.

Y. Deus, in adjutorium
_¥. Incline unto my aid, O
‘meum intende.
God.
®. Domine, ad adjuvan- _ K. O Lord, make haste to
dum ‘me festina.
help me,
Gloria Patri,
Spiritui Sancto.

et

Filio,

et

Sicut erat in principio, et

nunc, et semper,et in szcula
szculorum.

Amen.

Alleluia.

lory be to the Father, and to
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is

now, and ever shall be, world
without

end.

Amen.

Alleluia.

The first Psalm of Lauds shows us our Jesus rising

from his tomb like a King clothed with beauty, and like
2 Coloss. § 18.

128

PASCHAL

TIME

a conqueror girded with strength. By his Resurrection,
he restores man to the immortality he had forfeited.
Wonderful are the surges of the sea ; but far more so is the
power of the risen Jesus, our Lord. Let us, by the
holiness of our lives, prove ourselves worthy of heaven—
that House which he has now thrown open to us.

ANT. Angelus autem Domini_descendit_de ceelo, et
accedens revolvit lapidem, et
sedebat super eum. ~ Alleluia,
alleluia.

ANT. And the angel of the
Lord descended from heaven;
and going to the stone, rolled
it back, and sat on it. Alleluia,
alleluia.

PSALM g2
Dominus regnavit, decoThe Lord hath reigned, he
rum indutus est: indutus is clothed with beauty: the
\est Dominus fortitudinem, Lord is clothed with strength,
et praecinxit se.
and hath girded himself.
Etenim _firmavit orbem
For fo-day,
his Resurterra: qui non commove- rection, he hath cstablished the
world, which shall not be moved.
bitur.
Parata sedes tua ex tunc:
Thy throne, O congueror of
death, is prepared from old:
a saculo tu es.
thou art from everlasting.
Elevaverunt flumina DoThe floods have lifted up,
mine:
elevaverunt
flumina
0O Lord, the floods have lifted
vocem suam.
up their voice.
Elevaverunt flumina fluThe floods have lifted up
ctus suos: a vocibus aqua- their waves, with the noise of
rum multarum.
many waters.
Mirabiles elationes maris:
Wonderful are the surges of
mirabilis in altis Dominus.
the sea: wonderful is the Lord
on high,
Testimonia tua credibilia
Thy testimonies are become
facta sunt nimis: domum exceedingly credible: holiness
tuam decet sanctitudo, Do- becometh thy house, O Lord,
mine, in longitudinem die- which is thy Church, unto
rum.
length of days.
ANT. Angelus autem DoANT. And the angel of the
mini_descendit de ccelo, et Lord descended from heaven;
accedens revolvit lapidem, and going to the stone, rolled
et sedebat super eum. Al it back, and sat on it. Alleleluia, alleluia.
Iuia, alleluia.
The following Psalm invites to the courts of the Lord

all the inhabitants of the earth, there to celebrate this

EASTER

SUNDAY:

LAUDS

129

Jesus is our divine
Shepherd, and we are the sheep of his pasture. Though
the mighty conqueror and God, yet is he sweet and com-

great solemnity, this Feast of feasts.

passionate. Let us celebrate his triumph in exceeding
great joy, and with grateful gladness.
ANT.

Et ecce

terremotus

factus est magnus: Angelus

enim
ceelo.

Domini descendit
Alleluia.

de

ANT. And behold | there was
a great earthquake: for an
angel of the Lord came down
from heaven, alleluia.

PSALM 99
Jubilate Deo_omnis terra:
Sing joyfully to God, all the
servite Domino in Ltitia.
earth | serve ye the Lord with
gladness.
Introite in conspectu ejus:
Come in_before his presence
in exsultatione.
with exceeding great joy.
Scitote quoniam Dominus
Know ye, chat the Lord is
ipse est Deus:
ipse fecit nos,
God; he made us, and not we
et non ipsi nos.
ourselves.
Populus_ejus, et oves paWe are his people, and the
scuz ejus, introite portas sheep of his pasture; go_ye
ejus in _confessione: atria into his gates with praise:
gus in hymais, conftemini into his courts with hymns,
i
and give glory to him.
Laudate nomen ejus quoPraise ye his name, for the
niam suavis est Dominus, in
Lord is sweet; his mercy en@ternum _misericordia ejus: dureth for ever: and his truth
et usque in generationem et to generation and generation.
generationem veritas ejus.
AnT. Et ecce terremotus
ANT. And behold ! there was
factus est magnus: Angelus a great earthquake: for an
enim Domini descendit de
angel of the Lord came down
ceelo.
Alleluia.
from heaven, alleluia.
The following Psalm is the prayer of the faithful soul

to her God at break of day.
From the first waking, she
thirsts after the great God, her Creator and Redeemer.

But on this day of Easter, she delightedly contemplates
him in all the magnificence of his glory, and the whole
world is filled with it. All men are now one in unity
of sentiment; all are keeping the Pasch; there is not a
nation under heaven where the great mystery is not
known. Let us pray that all may understand it, love
it, and share in its joy.
9

130
PASCHAL TIME
Ant. Erat autem aspectus
ANT. And his countenance
ejus sicut fulgur, vestimenta was as lightning, and his raiautem_ejus sicut nix. Alle- ment was as snow. Alleluia,
luia, alleluia.
alleluia.
PSALM 62

Deus, Deus meus: ad te
de luce vigilo.
Sitivit in te anima mea:
quam multipliciter tibi caro
mea.
In terra deserta, et invia,
et inaguosa: sic in sancto
apparui tibi, ut viderem
virtutem
tuam.

tuam,

et gloriam

Quoniam melior est misericordia tua super vitas: labia mea laudabunt te.
Sic benedicam te in vita
mea: et in nomine tuo levabo manus meas.
Sicut adipe et pinguedine
repleatur anima ~mea: et
labiis exsultationis laudabit
os meum.
Si memor fui tui super
stratum meum, in matutinis
meditabor in te: quia fuisti
adjutor meus.
Et in velamento alarum
tuarum exsultabo, adhasit
anima mea post te: me suscepit dextera tua.
psi vero in vanum quasierunt animam meam, i
troibunt in inferiora terrz
tradentur in manus gladii,
partes vulpium erunt.
Rex vero lztabitur in Deo,
laudabuntur omnes qui jurant in eo: quia obstructum
est os loquentium iniqua.

0 God, my God, to thee do
1 watch at break of day.
For thee my soul hath
thirsted, for thee my flesh, oh |
how many ways |
In a desert land, and where
there is no way, and no water:
so, in the sanctuary have I
come before thee, to see thy
power and thy glory.
" For thy mercy is better than
lives: thee my lips shall praise.
Thus will I bless thee all
my life long: and in thy name
T will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as
with marrow and fatness, O
Bread of life/ and my mouth
shall praise thee with joyful
ips,
Ii I have remembered thee
upon my bed, I will meditate
on thee in the morning: because thou hast been my
helper.
And I will rejoice under the
covert of thy wings; my soul
hath stuck close to thee: thy
right hand hath received me.
But they have sought my
soul in vain; they shall go into
the lower parts of the earth:
they shall be delivered into
the hands of the sword, they
shall be portions of foxes.
_But man being set free shall,
like a king, rejoice in God;
all they shall be praised that
swear by him:
because the
mouth is stopped of them that
speak wicked things.

131

LAUDS

SUNDAY:

EASTER

ANt Erat autem aspectus
ANT. And his countenance
ejus sicut fulgur, vestimenta was as lightning, and his raiautem ejus siout nix. Alle- ment was as sow. Alleluia,
luia, alleluia.
alleluia.
The

Canticle,

in

which

the

three

children,

in

the

fiery furnace of Babylon, bid all creatures of God bless
his name, is sung by the Church in the Lauds of every
great feast. It gives a voice to all creatures, and invites the whole universe to bless its divine author. How
just it is, that on this day heaven and earth should
unite in giving glory to the great God, who, by his Death
and Resurrection, repairs the injury done to them by sin !

Axt. Pre timore autem
ejus exterriti sunt custodes,
et facti sunt velut mortui,
alleluia.
CANTICLE

OF

THE

ANT. The guards were terrified with fear of him, and
became as men struck dead,
alleluia.
THREE

CHILDREN

(Dan. i)
Benedicite omnia opera
All ye works of the Lord,
Domini Domino: laudate et bless the Lord: praise and
superexaltate eum in szcula. exalt him above all for ever.
enedicite angeli Domini
O ye angels of the Lord,
Domino: benedicite cceli Do- bless the Lord: O ye heavens,
bless the Lord.
mino.
Benedicite aqu@ omnes
O all ye waters that are
qua super coelos sunt Do- above the heavens, bless the
mino:_benedicite omnes vir- Lord: O all ye powers of the
tutes Domini Domino.
Lord, bless the Lord.
Benedicite sol et luna DoO 'ye sun and moon, bless
mino: benedicite stellz cceli the Lord: O ye stars of heaven,
Domino.
bless the Lord.
Benedicite, omnis _imber
O every shower and dew,
et ros Domino: benedicite bless ye the Lord: O all ye
omnes spiritus Dei Domino. spirits of God, bless the Lord.
Benedicite ignis et astus
O ye fire and heat, bless the
Domino: benedicite frigus et Lord: O ye cold and heat,
@stus Domino.
bless the Lord.
Benedicite rores et pruina
O ye dews and hoar frosts,
Domino: benedicite gelu et bless the Lord: O ye frost and
frigus Domino.
cold, bless the Lord.
Benedicite glacies et nives
0'ye ice and snow, bless the
Domino: benidicite noctes Lord: O ye nights and days,
et dies Domino.
bless the Lord.

132
PASCHAL TIME
Benedicite lux et tenebrz
O ye light and darkness,
Domino: _benedicite fulgura bless the Lord: O ye lightnings
and clouds, bless the Lord.
et nubes Domino.
Benedicat terra
DomiOh | let the earth bless the
num: laudet et superexal- Lord: let it praise and exalt
tet eum in szcula.
him above all for ever.
Benedicite montes et colO ye mountains and _hills,
les Domino: benedicite uni- bless the Lord: O all ye things
versa germinantia in terra that spring up in the earth,
Domino.
bless the Lord.
O ye fountains, bless the
Benedicite fontes Domino: benedicite maria et flu- Lord: O ye seas and rivers,
mina Domino.
bless the Lord.
Benedicite cete et omnia
O ye whales, and all that
quz moventur in aquis Do- move in the waters, bless the
mino: benedicite omnes vo- Lord: O all ye fowls of the air,
Tucres ceeli Domino.
bless the Lord.
Benedicite omnes bestiz
O all ye beasts and cattle,
et pecora Domino: benedicite bless the Lord: O ye sons of
filii hominum Domino.
men, bless the Lord.
Benedicat Israel DomiOh! let Israel bless the
num: laudet et superexaltet Lord: let it praise and exalt
eum in szcula.
him above all for ever.
Benedicite sacerdotes DoO ye priests of the Lord,
‘mini Domino: benedicite servi bless the Lord: O ye servants
Domini Doming
of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Benedicite spiritus et aniO ye spirits and souls of the
ma justorum Domino: bene- just, bless the Lord: O ye
dicite sancti et humiles corde holy and humble of heart,
Domino.
bless the Lord.
O Ananias, Azarias, Misael,
Benedicite Anania, Azaria, Misael Domino: laudate et bless ye the Lord: praise and
superexaltate eum in szcula. exalt him above all for ever.
enedicamus Patrem et
Let us bless the Father and
Filium cum Sancto Spiritu: the Son, with the Holy Ghost;
laudemus, et superexaltemus let us praise and exalt him
eum in szcula.
above all for ever.
Benedictus es, Domine,
Blessed art thou, O Lord, in
in firmamento cocli: et lau- the firmament of heaven; and
dabilis et gloriosus, et super- worthy of praise, and glorious,
exaltatus in szcula.
and exalted above all, for ever.
ANT. Pra timore autem
ANT. The guards were terejus exterriti sunt custodes, sified with fear of him, and
et facti sunt velut mortui,
became as men struck dead,
alleluia.
allelnia.
The last Psalm of Lauds sings the praise of the Lord,
and urges all creatures to bless his holy name.
It hasa
great resemblance with the Canticle of the three children.

EASTER

SUNDAY:

PSALM

Laudate eum omnes angeli ejus: laudate eum omnes
virtutes ejus.
Laudate eum sol et luna:
laudate eum omnes stellz
et lumen.
Laudate eum ceeli ccelorum: et aqua omnes, qua
super ceelos sunt, laudent
nomen Domi
Quia ipse dixit, et facta
sunt: ipse mandavit, et creata
sunt.
Statuit ea in zternum, et
in seculum szculi: praceptum posuit, et non prateribit.
Laudate Dominum
de
terra: dracones et omnes

abyssi.

Tgnis, grando, nix, glacies,
spiritus
procellarum:

qua

faciunt verbum ejus.
Montes et omnes colles:
ligna fructifera, etomnes cedr.
Besti et universa pecora:
serpentes, et volucres pen-

nata.

Reges terre et omnes po-

uli: principes, et omnes
judices terra.
Juvenes, et virgines, senes
cum junioribus, laudent nomen Domini: quia exaltatum
est nomen ejus solius.
Confessio ejus super ccelum et terram:
et exaltavit
cornu populi sui.

133

Ant. And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear
not: for I know that ye seek
Jesus, alleluia.

ANT. Respondens autem
angelus
dixit mulieribus:
Nolite timere: scio enim quod
Jesum quaritis, alleluia.
Laudate Dominum de ccelis: laudate eum in-excelsis.

LAUDS

148

Praise ye the Lord from the
heavens: praise ye him in the
high places.
Praise ye him, all his angels:
praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, O sun and
moon: praise ye him, all ye
stars and light.
Praise him, ye heavens of
heavens: and lef all the waters,
that are above the heavens,
praise the name of the Lord.
For he spoke, and they were
made: he commanded, and
they were created.
e hath established them
for ever, and for ages of ages:
he hath'made a decree, and it
shall not pass away.
Praise the Lord from the
earth, ye dragons and all ye
deeps.
ire, hail, snow, ice, stormy
winds, which fulfil his word.
Mountains and _all hills;
fruitful trees, and all cedars.
Beasts and_all cattle; serpents and feathered fowls.
Kings of the earth and all
people; princes and all judges
of the earth.
Young men and maidens;
let the old with the younger
raise the name of the Lord:
for his name alone is exalted.
His praise is above heaven
and earth: and he hath, fhis
day, exalted the horn of his
people.

134

PASCHAL

Hymnus_omnibus _sanctis
ejus: filiis Israel, populo ap‘propinquanti sibi.
ANT. Respondens autem
angelus, _dixit mulieribus:
Nolite _ timere: scio enim
quod Jesum queritis, alleuia.

TIME

A hymn to all his saints:
to the children of lscl, a
ple approaching to him.
P
Thnd the angel answering, said to the women:
Fear not: for I know that ye
seek Jesus, alleluia.

Immediately after the Psalms
Anthem:

Hac dies quam fecit Do-

minus: exsultemus
mur in ea.

et

laete-

is sung the Paschal

This is the day which the
Lord hath made: let us be
glad and rejoice therein.

Then follows the Canticle of Zachary it is the Church’s
daily welcome of the rising sun. It celebrates the
coming of Jesus to his creatures, the fulfilment of the
promises made by God, and the apparition of the divine
Orient in the midst of our darkness.

AnT. And very early
Ant. Et valde mane una
sabbatorum,
veniunt
ad morning, the first day
monumentum orto jam sole, weelk, they come to the
alleluia.
chre,"the sun being now
alleluia.

in the
of the
sepulrisen,

CANTICLE OF ZACHARY
(St Luke

Benedictus Dominus_ Deus Tsrael: quia visitavit, et
fecit redemptionem plebis
suz.
Et erexit cornu _salutis
nobis: in domo David pueri
sui.
Sicut locutus est per os
sanctorum: qui a szculo sunt
prophetarum ejus.
Salutem ex inimicis nostris: et de manu omnium
qui oderunt nos.
Ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris:
et memorari
testamenti sui
sancti.

i)

Blessed be the Lord God of
Tstael, because he hath, fhis
day, visited and wrought the
redemption of his people.
And hath raised up an horn
of salvation to us, in the house
of David his servant.
As he spoke by the mouth
of his holy prophets, who are
from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that
hate us.
To perform mercy to our
fathers, and to remember his
holy testament,

EASTER

SUNDAY:

Jusjurandum quod juravit ad Abraham patrer nostrum: daturum se nobis.
Ut sine timore de manu
inimicorum _nostrorum liberati: serviamus illi.
In sanctitate et justitia
coram ipso: omnibus diebus
nostris.
Et tu, puer, propheta Altissimi ' vocaberis: © praibis
enim ante faciem
Domini
parare vias ejus.

Ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi ejus: in remissionem peccatorum eorum.
Per viscera misericordiz
Dei nostri: in quibus visitaVit n0s Oriens ex alto.
Tlluminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis
sedent: ad dirigendos pedes
nostros in viam pacis.
ANT. Et valde mane una
sabbatorum, veniunt ad monumentum, orto jam sole,
alleluia.

OREMUS.
Deus, qui hodierna die
per Unigenitum tuum zternitatis nobis aditum, devicta
morte, reserasti: vota nostra
quz
praveniendo aspiras,
etiam adjuvando prosequere.
Per cundem.
Y. Benedicamus Domino.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Ry Deo gratias. Alleluia,
alleluia.
The

Office of Lauds

LAUDS

135

The oath which he swore to
Abraham our father; that he
would grant to us,
That being delivered from
the band of our enemies, we
may serve him without fear,
Tn holiness and justice before him all our days.
And thou, child, the Precursor of the Man-God, shalt be
called the prophet of the Most
High:
for thou shalt go before
the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
To give to his people the
knowledge of salvation, unto
the remission of their sins,
Through the bowels of the
mercy of our God, in_ which
the
Orient from on high hath
visited us,
To enlighten them that sit
in darkness and in the shadow
of death: to direct our feet
into the way of peace.
ANT. And very early in the
morning, the first day of the
week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being mow risen,
alleluia.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who, on this day, by
thy only-begotten Son's victory
over death, didst open for us a
passage to eternity; grant that
our prayers, which thy preventing grace inspireth, may, b
thy help, become effectual.
Thioughthe same, etc.
us bless the Lord.
.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Ry. Thanks be to God. Al-

leluia, alleluia.

being

over,

the faithful retire

from the church: but they will soon return, to assist

at

the

solemn

Sacrifice

of

the

Paschal

Lamb.

In

PASCHAL TIME
the better to understand the holy Liturgy

136
order

our Easter,

we will again imagine

of

ourselves to be in

one of the cathedral churches of the fourth or fifth

century, where the sacred rites were carried out in all
their magnificence.
The city is filled with strangers. The priests of
the country churches have come to assist at the con-

secration of the oils, at the administration of Baptism,
and at the grand functions of Easter. The inhabitants
are not allowed to undertake any journey that would
prevent

them

at

assisting

from

the

of

Offices

the

Church; for we find several councils? forbidding even the
nobles to go beyond the city walls until the Paschal
solemnity is over. We shall not be surprised at these

regulations if we remember what we have already stated

with regard to Palm Sunday, how the monks of the
East, who had obtained permission from their Abbots to
leave their monasteries at the beginning of Lent, and
retire into the

were
St

desert,

God

alone,

the first to organize,

in the

there

to

live with

obliged to return for the celebration of Easter.

Pachomius—who

was

desert of the east, a congregation or confederation of all
the houses that had sprung from his celebrated monastery
of Tabenna—insisted upon all his disciples convening

every ‘year in this central monastery, for the purpose
On some of these
of celebrating the Resurrection.
occasions,

there

were

to

be

seen

encamped

around

Tabenna as many as fifty thousand monks.
Even now, notwithstanding all the deplorable injuries done to the spirit of Christianity by heresy, our
churches are crowded on the great Paschal solemnity.
Even

they that never

think

of entering the house

of

God on any other day of the year make an exception
for Easter Sunday, as though they could not resist the
power of the great mystery of Jesus’ triumph. It is
the

last

remnant

of faith

left in these

men;

them from total forgetfulness of their religion.

it keeps

When

their last hour comes, their celebration of Easter, though

* Councils of Agatha, of Orleans I and 1V, of Epaor, etc.

EASTER

SUNDAY:

LAUDS

137

so imperfect, may draw down upon them the mercy
of their Saviour; but if their Easters have been but so
many neglects of the Sacraments, what consolation,
what hope, can they yield? Those slighted invitations
to mercy will then cry out for vengeance, and give to
the Resurrection the awful triumph of justice |—But
these are thoughts far too sad for our festivity: let
us turn them into a prayer to our risen Jesus, that he
‘ break not the bruised reed, nor quench

the smoking

flax’;? let us delight in the thought of those bright days
of the past.when faith made Easter so glorious a sight

for heaven and earth; let us exult in the reflection, that
the same faith is still that of millions, and will be so

till the end of time !
And before going to Mass, let us aid our enthusiasm
by a remembrance of the martyrs of Easter. Yes,
the grand solemnity was once consecrated by the blood
of saints, and the Church chronicles the event in her
Martyrology. In the year 459, Easter Sunday fell upon
April 5. The Church in Africa was then suffering persecution from the Vandals; they were Arians, and had
been brought into the country by their kings, Genseric
and Hunneric. The Catholics of the city of Regia were

assembled in the church for the celebration of the Resur-

rection, and, in order to keep out the heretics, they had
closed the doors. The Arians, marshalled by one of
their priests, forced an entrance, and rushed in, brandishing their swords. At that very moment a lector was
in the ambo, singing the Alleluia ; an arrow, shot by one
of the barbarians, pierced his throat; he fell, and finished

his song in heaven.

The Vandals fell upon the faithful,

and the church streamed with blood. They dragged
others from the holy place, and executed them by order
of their king. The little children were the only ones

spared.

Let

us unite

with

the

Church,

these noble victims of Easter on April 5.

* Isa. xlif 3.

who

honours

138

PASCHAL TIME
MASS

It is the hour of Terce (g o’clock), and the basilica
is crowded with the faithful. The sun is pouring in his
brightest beams; and who has not felt the charm of
an Easter sun ? The pavement is strewn with flowers.
Above the glittering mosaics of the apse, the wall is
covered with rich tapestry. Festoons hang from the
sanctuary arch to the pillars of the nave and aisles.
Lamps, fed with the purest oil, and suspended from the
ciborium (or canopy), are burning around the altar.
The Paschal candle, which has been ceaselessly burning
since last night, stands on its marble pillar; its bright

flame attracts every eye, and the perfumes, wherewith
its wick

is

saturated,

delicious fragrance.
our

light,

and

fill

the

sacred

edifice with

a

It is the noble symbol of Jesus,

seems

to

say:

‘Alleluia!

Christ

is

risen !’
But by far the most interesting object is the group

of the

the

neophytes,

clad

in their

white

garments,

angels that appeared at the sepulchre.

like

They are

the living expression of the mystery of our Lord’s Resurrection. Yesterday they were dead, by sin; now they
are living, by that new life which is the fruit of Jesus’
victory over death. Oh! happy thought of our mother
the Church, to choose for the day of their regeneration

that on which
his creatures !

the Man-God

won

immortality for us

The Station at Rome was formerly in the basilica of

St Mary Major, the principal church of all those that

are dedicated to the Mother of God in the holy city.
Was it not just to associate with the Paschal solemnity
the memory of her, who, more than all other creatures,
had merited its joys, not only because of the exceptional
share she had had in all the sufferings of Jesus, but also
because of the unshaken faith wherewith,

during those

long and cruel hours of his lying in the tomb, she had
awaited his Resurrection ? But now the papal Mass is

EASTER

SUNDAY:

MASS

139

celebrated in St Peter’s, as being more convenient, by
its size and situation, to the immense concourse of the

faithful, who flock to Rome, from every part of the
Christian world, for the feast of Easter. The Roman
Missal, however, still gives St Mary Major as the

stational church of to-day; and the indulgences are
gained, as formerly, by those who assist at the services
celebrated there.
There is no water blessed for the Asperges to-day,
as is the custom on all other Sundays throughout the
year. We assisted, a few hours ago, at the imposing
ceremony of the blessing of the water which was to
be used for the Baptism of the catechumens.
The
water which is now going to be sprinkled upon the faithful was taken from the font of regeneration.
During
this ceremony, the choir sings the following Antiphon:
ANTIPHON

Vidi aquam egredientem
de templo a latere dextro,
alleluia: et omnes, ad_quos
pervenit aqua ista, salvi facti
sunt, et dicent, Alleluia, alleIuia,
Ps. Confitemini Domino,
quoniam bonus: quoniam in
seculum misericordia ejus.
Gloria Patri. Vidi aquam.
¥. Ostende nobis, Domine,
misericordiam tuam, alleluia.
R. Et salutare tuum da
nobis, alleluia.
OREMUS.

Exaudi nos, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, terne Deus: et mittere digneris
sanctum angelum tuum de
ceelis, qui custodiat, foveat,
protegat, visitet atque defendat omnes habitantes in
hoc habitaculo. Per Christum Dominum
nostrum.
Amen.

1 saw water flowing from
the right side of the temple,
alleluia ; and all to whom that
water came were saved, and
they shall say, Alleluia, alleIuia.
Ps. Praise the Lord, because
he is good: because his mercy
endureth for ever.
Glorg, etc. I saw.
Y. Show us, O Lord, thy
mercy, alleluia.
R. And grant us thy salvation, alleluia.
LET US PRAY.

Graciously hear us, O holy
Lord, Father almighty, Eternal
God:! and vouchsafe to send
thy holy angel from heaven,
who may keep, cherish, protect, visit, and defend ail who
are assembled in this place.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

140

PASCHAL TIME

In many of the western churches, the following stanzas,
written by St Venantius Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers,
used formerly to be sung during the procession before
to-day’s Mass. We insert them here, feeling assured that
they will interest our readers, and assist them to enter
more fully into the spirit of the great solemnity, for
which our forefathers made them serve as a preparation.
We shall find them replete with the same enthusiasm
that inspired the author when he composed the Vezilla
Regis, and the hymn of the holy chrism: there is the
same

same

bold

piety,

and

the

almost

energetic,

same

ment.
The beautiful
sung, is still extant.

richness

chant,

EASTER
Salve, festa dies,
rabilis =vo;

toto

vene-

Qua Deus infernum vincit,
et astra tenet.
Ecce renascentis testatur

tia mundi,
Omnia
cum
Domino
dona
redisse suo.
Repeat. Salve, festa dies.

Namque triumphanti _post
tristia tartara Christo,
Undique fronde nemus, gramina flore favent.
Salve, festa dies.

of

harsh,

poetry

to which

diction,

and

this hymn

the

sentiwas

SONG

Hail, thou féstive, ever venerable day! whereon hell is
conquered and heaven is won
by Christ.
Lol our earth is in her
spring; bearing. thus_her witness that, with her Lord, she
has all her gifts restored.
Repeat. Hail, thou festive.
For now the woods with
their leaves, and the meadows
with_their flowers, pay homage
to Jesus' triumph over the
gloomy tomb.
Hail, thou festive.

Legibus inferni oppressis,
Light, firmament, fields and
super astra meantem,
sea, give justly praise to the
Laudant rite Deum lux, po- God_that defeats the laws of
Ius, arva, fretum.
death,
and
rises above
the
Salve, festa dies.

stars.

Hail, thou festive.

The crucified God now reigns
crucifixus erat Deus,
ecce per omnia regnat; -over all things; and every
Dantque
creatori
cuncta creature to its Creator tells
creata precem.
a prayer.
Salve, festa dies.
ail, thou festive.
Qui

EASTER

Christe salus rerum, bone conditor, atque redemptor;
Unica progenies ex Deitate
Patris.
Salve, festa dies.

Qui genus humanum cernens
mersum esse profundo,
Ut hominem eriperes, es
quoque factus homo.
Salve, festa dies.
Nec voluisti etenim tantum
te corpore nasci,
Sed caro qua nasci pertulit,
atque mori.
Salve, festa dies.

Funeris exsequias _pateris,
vitz auctor et orbis,
Intrans mortis iter, dando
salutis opem.
Salve, festa dies.
Tristia cesserunt infernz
vincula legis,
Expavitque chaos luminis
ore premi.
Salve, festa dies.
Depereunt tenebra Christi
fulgore fugatz,
ZEternz noctis pallia crassa
cadunt.
Salve, festa dies.
Pollicitam sed redde fidem,
recor, alma potestas,
Tertia lux rediit, surge seulte meus.
Salve, festa dies.
Non_decet, ut vili tumulo
tua membra tegantur,
Neu pretium mundi vilia
saxa
premant.
Salve, festa dies.
Lintea tolle, precor, sudaria
linque sepulchro;
Tu satis es nobis, et sine te
nihil est.
Salve, festa dies.

141
O Jesus! Saviour of the
world] Loving Creator and
Redeemer | _Only-begotten Son
of God the Father |
Hail, thou festive.
Seeing the human race was
sunk in misery deep, thou
wast
made
Man,
that
thou
mightest rescue man.
ail, thou festive.
Nor wouldst thou be content to be born; but being
born in the flesh, in the same
wouldst thou suffer death.
Hail, thou festive.
Thou, the author of life and
of all creation, wast buried in
the tomb; treading the path
of death, to give us salvation.
Hail, thou festive.
The gloomful bonds of hell
were broken; the abyss shook
with fear, as the light shone
upon its brink.
Hail, thou festive.
The brightness of Christ put
darkness to fiight, and made
to fall the thick veils of everlasting night.
Hail, thou festive.
But redeem thy promise,
I beseech thee, merciful King i
This is the third day; arise,
my buried Jesus |
Hail, thou festive.
"Tis not meet that thy Body
lie in the lowly tomb, o that a
sepulchral stone should keep imprisoned the ransom of the world.
Hail, thou festive.
Throw off thy shrouds, I
pray thee | Leave thy windingsheet in the tomb.
“Thou art
our all; and all else, without
thee, is nothing.
Hail, thou festive.

SUNDAY:

MASS

142
PASCHAL TIME
Set free the spirits that are
Solve
catenatas
inferni
shackled in limbo's prison.
carceris umbras,
Et revoca sursum, quiquid Raise up all fallen things.
ad ima ruit.
Hail, thou festive.
Salve, festa dies.
Redde tuam faciem, videant
Show us once more thy
ut secula lumen,
face, that all ages may see the
Redde diem, qui nos, te light | Bring back the day,
which fled when thou didst
moriente, fugit.
die.
Hail, thou festive.
Salve, festa dies.
Sed plane implesti remeBut thou hast done all this,
ans,
pie
victor,
ad 0 loving conqueror, by returning to our world: death lies
orbem
Tartara pressa jacent, nec defeated, and its rights are
sua jura tenent.
gone.
Salve, festa dies.
Hail, thou festive.
Inferus insaturabiliter cava
The greedy monster, whose
guttura pandens,
huge throat had swallowed all
Qui rapuit semper, fit tua mankind, is now thy prey, O
God !
opreda: Deus.
ve, festa dies.
Hail, thou festive.
Evomit absorptam _trepide
The savage beast riow tremfera bellua plebem,
bling vomits forth the victims
Et de fauce lupi subtrahit he had made, and the lamb
tears the sheep from the jaw
agnus oves.
of the wolf.
Salve, festa dies.
Hail, thou festive.
Rex sacer, ecce tui radiat
O King divine! lo! here a
pars magna triumphi,
bright ray of thy triumph—
Cum puras animas sacra la- the souls made pure by the
vacra beant.
holy font.
Salve, festa dies.
Hail, thou festive.
Candidus _ egreditur nitidis
The white-robed troop comes
exercitus undj
from the limpid waters; and
Atque vetus vitium purgat the old iniquity is cleansed in
in amne novo.
the new stream.
Salve, festa dies.
Hail, thou festive.
Fulgentes animas vestis quoThe white garments symboque candida signat,
lize unspotted souls; and the
Et grege de vineo gaudia Shepherd rejoices in his snowastor habet,
like flock:
Salve, festa dies,” toto veHail, thou festive, ever vennerabilis zvo;
erable day| whereon hell is
Qua Deus infernum vincit conquered ‘and heaven is won
et astra tenet.
by Christ.

EASTER

SUNDAY:

143

MASS

The preparations completed, the cantors intone
the majestic melody of the Introit. Meanwhile, the
pontiff, accompanied by the priests, deacons, and other
ministers, advances in procession to the altar steps.
This opening chant is the cry of the Man-God as he rises
from the tomb: it is the hymn of Jesus’ gratitude to his
eternal Father.
INTROIT

Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum
sum, alleluia: posuisti super
me manum tuam, alleluia:
mirabilis facta est scientia
tua. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Domine, probasti me
et cognovisti me: tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam. ¥. Gloria Patri. Resurrexi.

I have risen, and am as yet
with thee, alleluia: thou hast
stretched forth thy hand to me,
alleluia: thyknowledge is become
wonderful. _Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Lord, thou hast tried
me and known me: thou hast
known my sitting down and
my uprising. ¥ Glory, ctc.
1 have risen, etc.

In the Collect, the Church

proclaims

the grace of

immortality, which our Redeemer’s victory over death

restored to mankind. She prays that her children may
desire the glorious destiny thus won for them.

COLLECT
Deus, qui hodierna die per
O God, who, on this day, by
Unigenitum toum, aterni- thy only-begotten Son’s victatis nobis aditum, devicta tory over death, didst open
morte, reserasti: vota no- for us a passage to eternity;
stra, quz praveniendo a- grant that our prayers, which
spiras, etiam adjuvando pro- thy preventing grace inspireth,
sequere. Per eumdem.
may by thy help become effectual.
Through the same, etc.
EPISTLE
Lectio Epistole beati Pauli
Apostoli ad Corinthios.

I Cor. V.
Fratres, expurgate vetus
fermentum, ut sitis nova
conspersio, sicut _estis azymi.

Etenim Pascha nostrum

Lesson of the Epistle of St
Paul

the Apostle to the Corinthians.

ICor. V.

Brethren: Purge out the
old leaven, that you may be a
new paste, as you are unleavened.

For Christ, our

Pasch,

PASCHAL TIME

144

immolatus est Christus. Itaque epulemur, non in fermento veteri, neque in_fermento malitiz et nequitiz:
sed in azymis sinceritatis et

is sacrificed.
Therefore let us
feast, not with the old leaven,
nor with the leaven of malice

and

unleavened
and truth.

wveritatis.

God

commanded

the

wickedness,

Israelites

to

bread

use

but

of

with

the

sincerity

unleavened

bread when they ate the Paschal Lamb; hereby teaching
them that, before partaking of this mysterious food,
they should abandon their sins, which are signified by
leaven.

We

Christians, who are called to the new

life

which Jesus has created for us by his Resurrection,
must henceforth be intent on good works, as the unleavened bread wherewith we must receive the Paschal
Lamb,

our Easter banquet.

The Gradual is formed of those joyous words, which
the Church untiringly repeats in all her Offices of this
solemnity of the Pasch. They are taken from the 117th
Psalm.
Joy, on such a day as this, is a duty incumbent
on every Christian, both because of the triumph of our
beloved

Redeemer,

and

because

of the blessings

that

triumph has won for us. Sadness would be a criminal
protestation against the
d things wherewith God
has graced us through his Son, who not only died, but
also rose from the grave, for us.

GRADUAL
Hazc

minus:

dies

quam

fecit

Do-

exsultemus et lete-

This is the day
Lord hath made:

which the
let
e us be

mur in ea.
glad and rejoice therein.
¥.. Confitemini Domino, _ ¥. Praise ye the Lord, for
quoniam bonus: quoniam in he is good: and his mercy
seculum misericordia ejus.
endureth for ever.
The Alleluia verse expresses one of the motives we
have for rejoicing: a banquet is prepared for us! Jesus
is our Lamb.

He was slain, now he is living: slain, that

we might be redeemed by his Blood; living, that we
may share his immortality.
Alleluia,

V.

alleluia.

Pascha

nostrum

molatus est Christus.

im-

Alleluia, alleluia.
¥.

Christ,

sacrificed.

our

Pasch,

is

EASTER

SUNDAY:

The better to encourage her
Church adds to her ordinary
enthusiastic admiration for
called a Seguence, because it
Alleluia.

MASS

145

children to be glad, the
chants a hymn full of
her risen Jesus.
It is
is a continuation of the

SEQUENCE

Victime _paschali laudes
TImmolent christiani.
Agnus redemit oves:
Christus innocens Patri
Reconciliavit peccatores.

Mors et vita duello

Conflixere mirando:
Dux vitz ‘mortuus

Regnat vivus.

Dic nol
Quid vidisti

M:
in via ?

Sepulchrum Christi vi‘ventis:
Et gloriam vidi resurgentis.
Angelicos testes,

Sudarium

et vestes.

Christus ~ spes
mea:
Pracedet vos in Galilzam.
Scimus Christum surrexisse
A mortuis vere;
Tu nobis victor Rex, miserere. Amen. Alleluia.
Surrexit

Let Christians offer to the
Paschal Victim
the sacrifice
of praise.
e Lamb
hath
redeemed

the sheep: the innocent Jesus

hath reconciled
Father.

sinners

to

his

Death and life fought against

each other, and wondrous was
the duel: the King of life was

put to death; yet now he lives
and reigns.
Tell us, O Mary! ‘what
sawest thou on the way ?
I saw the sepulchre of the
living Christ; I saw the glory
of him that had risen.

1 saw the angels that were

the witnesses; I saw the wind-

ing-sheet and the cloth.

Christ, my hope, hath risen |
He shall go before you into

Galilee.
We know

that

Christ

truly risen from the dead.

hath

Do

thou, O conqueror and King !
have mercy upon us. Amen.
Alleluia.

The Church gives her preference to-day to the Evan-

gelist St Mark, who was a disciple of St Peter, and wrote

his Gospel at Rome, under the eye of this prince of the
Apostles. It was fitting that, on such a festival as
Easter, we should, in some manner, hear him speaking

to us, whom our divine Master appointed to be the Rock
of his Church, and the supreme pastor of all, both sheep
and lambs.
10

146

PASCHAL TIME
GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Marcum.
Cap. XVI.
In illo tempore: Maria
dalene, et Maria Jacobi,
et Salome, emerunt aromata
ut venientes ungerent Jesum. Et valde mane una
sabbatorum, veniunt ad monumentum, orto jam sole.
Et_dicebant ad invicem:
Quis revolvet nobis lapidem
ab ostio monumenti ? Et respicientes viderunt revolutum lapidem. Erat quippe
magnus valde. Et introeuntes in_monumentum, viderunt juvenem sedentem in
dextris, coopertum stola
candida, et obstupuerunt.
Qui dixit illis: Nolite expavescere: Jesum queritis Nazarenum,
crucifixum:
surrexit, non est hic; ecce locus
ubi_posuerunt eum. Sed ite,
dicite discipulis ejus, et Petro, quia pracedit vos_ in
Galilzam: ibi eum videbitis,
sicut dixit vobis.

Sequel of the hol Gospel ac-

cording to ark.
Ch. XVI.
At that time: Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, bought
Sweet spices, that coming they
might anoint Jesus. And very
early in the morning, the first
day of the week, they come
to the sepulchre, the sun being
now risen. And they said one
to another: Who shall roll us
back the stone from the door
of the sepulchre ? And looking, they saw the stene rolled
back.
For it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre,
they saw a young man sitting
on the right side clothed with
a white robe: and they were
astonished. Who saith to
them: Be not affrighted: you
seck Jesus of Nazareth, who
was crucified: he is risen, he
is not here, behold the place
where they laid him. But go,
tell his disciples and Peter, that
he goeth before you into Galilee:
there you shall see him, as he
told you.

He 1s risen : He is not here/

The Corpse, laid by

the hands of them that loved their Lord, on the slab
that lies in that cave, is risen; and, without removing

the stone that closed the entrance, has gone forth,
quickened with a life which can never die. No man has

helped him.
No prophet has stood over the dead
Body, bidding it return to life. It isJesus himself, and
by his own power, that has risen. He suffered death,
not from necessity, but because he'so willed; and again,

because he willed, he has delivered himself from its
bondage. O Jesus! Thou, that thus mockest death,

EASTER
art the Lord our God!

SUNDAY:

MASS

147

We reverently bend our knee

before this empty tomb, which is now for ever sacred,

because, for a few hours, it was the place of thy abod

Behold the place where they laid him ! Behold the winding-sheet and bands, which remain to tell the mystery
of thy having once been dead! The angel says to the
women: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified |
The

recollection makes

us weep.

Yes, it was

but

the

day before yesterday that his Body was carried hither,
mangled, wounded,

bleeding.

Here, in this cave, from

which the angel has now rolled back the stone—in this

cave, which his presence fills with a more than mid-day
brightness—stood the afflicted Mother.
It echoed with
the sobs of them

that were at the burial, John and the

two disciples, Magdalen and her companions.

sank beneath

the horizon, and

the first day of Jesus’

burial began. But the prophet had said:
ing weeping shall have place; and in the
ness.”t This glorious, happy morning
Jesus! and great indeed is our gladness
this

same

sepulchre,

whither

The sun

we

‘ In the evenmorning gladhas come, O
at seeing that

followed

thee

with

aching hearts, is now but the trophy of thy victory !
Thy precious wounds are healed! It was we that
caused them; permit us to kiss them. Thou art now
living,

more

glorious

than

ever,

and

immortal.

And

because we resolved to die to our sins, when thou wast

dying in order to expiate them, thou willest that we, too,

should live eternally with thee; that thy victory over
death should be ours; that death should be for us, as it

was for thee, a mere passage to immortality, and should
one day give back, uninjured and glorified, these bodies
which are to be lent for a while to the tomb.
Glory,
then, and honour, and love, be to ‘hee, O Jesus! who

didst deign not only to die, but to rise again for us !
The Offertory is composed of the words wherein David
foretold that the earth would tremble when the ManGod arose. This earth of ours has not only witnessed
the grandest manifestations of God's power and goodness,
* Ps.xxix6.

148

PASCHAL

TIME

but, by the sovereign will of its Maker, has been frequently made to share in them, by preternatural
movements.

OFFERTORY

Terra tremuit et quievit,
The earth trembled, and
dum resurgeret in judicic was silent, when God arose
Deus, alleluia.
in judgement, alleluia.
The whole assembly of the faithful is about to partake

of the Paschal banquet; the divine Lamb invites them

to it.

The altar is laden with the offerings they have

presented.

The

holy

Church,

in

her

Secret,

invokes

upon these favoured guests the graces which will procure
for them the blissful immortality whereof they are about
to receive a pledge.
¢
SECRET

Suscipe, quasumus, Domine, preces populi tui cum
oblationibus
hostiarum:
ut
paschalibus _initiata mysteriis, ad wmternitatis nobis
medelam, te_operante, proficiant. Per Dominum.

_ Receive, O Lord, we beseech
thee, the prayers of thy people,
together with the offerings of
these hosts: that what is consecrated by these paschal mysteries may by the help of thy
ace avail us to eternal life.
Frough, etc.

At the papal Mass, during the Middle Ages, while
the pontiff recited the Secret, the two youngest cardinaldeacons came

forward,

vested in white dalmatics, and

stood at each end of the altar, with their faces turned
towards the people. They represented the two angels
who kept guard over our Saviour’s tomb, and announced

to the holy women that he had risen. The two deacons
remained in that position until the pontiff left the altar

at the Agnus De, in order to receive the Holy Communion
on the throne.
Another impressive custom was observed at St Mary
Major’s. When the Pope, after breaking the Host,
addressed

to the faithful

the wish

of peace, with

the

usual greeting of Pax Domini sit_semper vobiscum,
the choir did not answer the usual Et cum spiritu tuo.

EASTER

SUNDAY:

149

MASS

It was the tradition, that St Gregory the Great was
once officiating in this church on Easter Sunday, when,

having sung these words, which bring down the Spirit

of peace on the assembled people, a choir of angels
responded with such sweet melody, that the singers of
earth were silent, for they feared to join in the celestial
music. The year following the cantors awaited the
angelic response to the words of the pontiff: the favour,
however,

was

never

renewed,

but

the

custom

of not

answering the Et cum spiritu tuo was observed for several
centuries.
The moment has at length come for the faithful to
partake of the divine Banquet. It was the practice

in the ancient

Church

the

life.!

of Gaul to chant

the following

solemn appeal to the people, who were about to receive
Bread

of

The

music,

which

accompanied

the Antiphon, is most impressive and appropriate.

give the words, as they will assist the devotion

faithful.

We

of the

INVITATION OF THE PEOPLE TO COMMUNION

Come, O ye people, to the
sacred and immortal
mystery |
Come and receive the sacred
libation |
Let us approach with fear
and faith, and hands undefiled.
Let us unite ourselves with
him who is the reward of our
repentance, for it is for us that
cium propositum est.
the Lamb of God the Father
offered himself in sacrifice.
Tpsum solum adoremus,
Let us adore him alone, and
ipsum glorificemus : _cum glorify him, singing with the
angelis clamantes, alleluia.
angels, alleluia.
Venite populi ad sacrum
et immortale mysterium, et
libamen agendum.
Cum timore, et fide accedamus manibus mundis, peenitentiz munus communicemus, quoniam propter nos
Agnus Dei Patris sacrifi-

While the sacred ministers are distributing the divine

Food, the Church celebrates, in her Communion Anthem,

the

true

Paschal

Lamb,

which

has

been

mystically

1 It was sung in cathedral churches even after the introduction of the Roman

Liturgy into France by Pepin and Charlemagne. It was not entirely discontinued
ot fe lastceatury came with 15 unsanctioned
and ever-to-beregretted innovations.

150

PASCHAL

TIME

immolated on the altar, and requires, from them who
receive it, that purity of soul which is signi ified by the

unleavened bread under whose accidents the reahty hes hid.
COMMUNION

Pascha nostrum immolatus
est
Christus,
alleluia:
itaque epulemur in azymis
sinceritatis et veritatis. Al
leluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Christ,

lated,

our

alleluia:

Pasch,

is immo-

therefore,

let

us feast on the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

The last prayer made by the Church for them that
have received their God is that the spirit of fraternal
charity, which is the spirit of our Pasch, may abide
in them. The Son of God, by assuming our nature in
the mystery of the Incarnation, has made us to be his
brothers; by shedding his Blood for us upon the Cross,

he

has united us to one

redemption;

another by the

bond

of the

and, by his Resurrection, he has linked us

together in one glorious immortality.
POSTCOMMUNION

Spiritum nobis, Domine,
tum charitatis infunde: ut
quos sacramentis paschal
bus satiasti, tua facias pietate concordes. Per Dominum.

Pour_forth

the

spirit

of

on

thy

us,

O

love;

Lord,

that

those whom thou hast filled
with the Paschal Sacrament,
may, by thy goodness, live in
perfect concord. Through, etc.

The pontiff then gives his blessing to the people.
They leave the house of God, to return thither for
the Vespers, which most solemn Office will conclude
the magnificent functions of our solemnity.
At Rome, the Pope descends from the throne, wearing
He ascends the sedia gestatoria, which
his triple crown.

is borne on the shoulders of the servants of the palace,

and is carried to the great nave. Having reached the
appointed place, he descends and humbly kneels down.
Then, from the tribune of the cupola, ‘are shown by
priests, vested in their stoles, the wood of the true Cross
and the Veil, called the Veronica, on which is impressed

EASTER
the

face of our

SUNDAY:

Redeemer.

I51

MASS

of

This commemoration

the sufferings and humiliations of the Man-God, at the

very moment when his triumph over death has been
celebrated with all the pomp of the Liturgy, eloquently
proclaims the glory and power of our risen Jesus, an
shows us how faithfully and how lovingly he fulfilled
the mission he had so graciously taken upon himself,
of working our salvation. It was on this very day, that
he himself said to the disciples of Emmaus: ‘ Thus it
behoved Christ to suffer and to rise
again from the dead
the third day.”* The Christian world, in the person of
its supreme pastor, hereby pays its homage to the
sufferings and glory of its Redeemer. The pontiff then
resumes the triple Crown, and is carried, on the sedia, to

the balcony, where he gives the papal benediction to the
people assembled in the piazza of St Peter’s. We have
already described this solemn rite.*
Formerly, when the Lateran palace was the papal

residence, and the Station of Easter Sunday was held
at St Mary Major’s, the sovereign Pontiff, vested in
a cope, and wearing the tiara, went to the basilica

on a horse caparisoned in white. After the Mass, he
proceeded to the banquet-hall, called the Triclinium
Leonianum. It was built by St Leo III, and was decorated with mosaics representing Christ, St Peter, Con-

stantine and Charlemagne.

A repast was prepared, to

which were invited, as guests of the pontiff, five cardinals,

five deacons, and the first in dignity (the Primicerius)
of the clergy attached to the church of St John Lateran.
Near to the Pope’s own table, a seat was prepared

for twelfth guest—the prior, called basilicarius.
Paschal Lamb was then served up, laid on a

The

rich dish.

The Pope blessed it, and thus signified that the severe
law of abstinence wasat anend.
He himself cut it into

portions and sent one to each of his guests; but first of all
he cut off a small piece, and gave it to the basilicarius,
saying to him what would have seemed a harsh allusion,
but for the words that followed: * What thou hast to do,

* St Luke xxiv 46.

+ Seo Passiontide:
Maundy Thursday, p. 359-

152
do quickly!

I say to thee

joyous

PASCHAL

TIME

But what was said as a condemnation,
as a pardon.’

conversation;

but,

The

repast began

after some

time,

the

with

arch-

deacon gave a signal, and a deacon began to read. The
papal choristers were afterwards introduced, and sang
such of the favourite sequences as the Pope called for.

This done, the choristers kissed the feet of the pontiff,
who gave to each of them a cup full of wine from his own
table; and each received a piece of money, called a
besant, from the treasurer.
Our object in mentioning such customs as this, is
to show our readers the simple manners of the Middle
Ages. The custom of blessing and eating lamb on Easter
Sunday

still continues,

though,

in many

instances,

it

conveys very little meaning. For those who, from
idle pretexts, have scarcely observed a day’s abstinence

during the whole of Lent, the Paschal Lamb is a reproach
rather than a consolation. We here give the blessing
as a completion to our Easter rites. The venerable
prayer, used by the Church, will take us back in thought

to other ages and prompt us to ask of God that he will
grant us a return to the simple and practical faith, which
gave such soul and grandeur to the everyday life of our
Catholic forefathers.
BLESSING

OF THE PASCHAL LAMB

Deus, qui per famulum tuum Moysen, in liberatione
populi tui dé Egypto, agnum
occidi jussisti in similitudinem Domini nostri Jesu
Christi, et utrosque postes
domorum_de sanguine ejusdem agni perungi pracepisti: ita benedicere, et sanctificare digneris hanc creaturam carnis, quam nos famuli tui ad laudem tuam
sumere desideramus, per resurrectionem ejusdem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Qui
tecum vivit et regnat in secula szculorum. Amen.

O God, who, on the deliverance of thy people from Egypt,
didst_command, by thy servant Moses, that a lamb should
be slain as a type of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and didst ordain
that both side-posts of the
houses should be sprinkled
with its blood: vouchsafe also
to bless and sanctify this
we
which
of flesh,
creature
thy servants desire to eat for
thy glory, and in honour of
the Resurrection of the same
esus Christ, our Lord. Who
iveth and reigneth with thee,
for ever and ever. Amen.

EASTER

SUNDAY:

MASS

153

The law of Lent formerly forbade not only flesh-meat,

but also eggs.

It was only by a dispensation that they

were allowed to be eaten during that holy season of
penance. The Churches of the East have strictly maintained the ancient discipline on this point, and no dispensation is admitted. Here, again, the faithful show
their joy, by asking the Church to bless the eggs that
are to appear at their Easter repast. The following is
the prayer used for this blessing:

BLESSING OF THE PASCHAL EGGS

Subveniat, quzsumus Domine, tuz benedictionis gratia huic ovorum creatura:
ut cibus salubris fiat fidelibus tuis in tuarum _gratiarum actione sumentibus, ob
resurrectionem
Domini
nostri Jesu Christi. Qui tecum
vivit et regnat in secula seculorum.

Amen.

We beseech thee, O Lord,
to give the favour of thy blessing to these eggs; that so they
may be a wholesome food to
thy faithful, who gratefully
take them in honour of the
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Who liveth and feigneth with thee, for ever and
ever.

Amen.

Yes, let our Easter repast, blessed as it is by our

mother the Church, be one of joy, and add to the glad-

ness of this great day! The feasts of religion should
always be kept as feasts by Christian families: but
there is not one, throughout the year, that can be com-

pared to this of Easter, which we have waited for so long
and in such sorrow, and which has at length come, bring-

ing with it the riches of God’s pardon, and the hope of our
immortality.

AFTERNOON
The day is fast advancing, and Jesus has not yet

shown himself to his disciples. The holy women are
overpowered with joy and gratitude at the favour they
have received. They have told it to the Apostles,
assuring them that not only have they seen angels, but
Jesus himself; that he has spoken to them; that they
have kissed his sacred feet. But all their assurances

PASCHAL TIME

154

fail to convince these men, who are oppressed with what
they have seen of their Master’s Passion. They are
cruelly disappointed, and their disappointment makes
them

to everything

deaf

speaks

that

of consolation.

And yet, we shall soon find them laying down their very
lives in testimony of the Resurrection of that Master

whose name and remembrance is now a humiliation to
them.

We may form some idea of their feelings from the
conversation of two who have been spending a part of
the day with them, and who themselves were disciples
of Jesus. This very evening, while returning to Emmaus,
they thus express their disappointment: ‘ We hoped
that Jesus would have redeemed Israel: and now, besides
all this, to-day is the third day since these things were
Yea, and certain women also of our company
done.
affrighted us; who, before it was light, were at the

sepulchre; and not finding his Body, came, saying that
they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that he is
alive. And some of our people went to the sepulchre,
and found it so as the women

found

not.*

How

strange,

had said; but him

that the Resurrection

which Jesus had so often spoken

presence of the Jews,

They

to them,

they

of

even in the

does not recur to their minds!

are still carnal-minded

men,

and

the awful

fact

of his death stifles within them every idea of that new
birth which our bodies are to receive in the tomb.
But our risen Jesus must now show himself to these
men, who are to preach his divinity to the furthest ends
of the world. So far, his manifestations have been
made to satisfy his affection for his blessed Mother, and
his infinite love for those souls, that had done all in their
power to testify their gratitude towards him. It is
now time for him to provide for his own glory; at least,
so it would seem to us. But no; having rewarded those
that love him, he would now show the generosity of

his heart;

and

then,

after this, proclaim

his triumph.

The apostolic college, of which every member fled at the

* St Luke xxiv 2124,

EASTER SUNDAY: AFTERNOON

155

hour of danger, has seen its very head so forgetful of
his duty as to deny his divine Master. But, from the
moment when Jesus cast upon his disciple a look of
reproach and pardon, Peter has done nothing but shed
bitter tears over his fall. Jesus would now console
the humble

penitent;

tell him, with his own

lips, that

he has pardoned him; and confirm, by this mark of his

divine predilection, the sublime prerogatives that he so
recently conferred upon him in the presence of all the
other Apostles. As yet Peter doubts of the Resurrection;
Magdalen’s testimony has not convinced him; but now
that his offended Master is about to appear to him, his
faith will acknowledge the grand mystery.
We have already heard the angel sending Jesus’ message
by the three women.
‘Go,’ said he, ‘tell his disciples
and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee.”* Why
this express mention of Peter, but that he may know
that although he has denied Jesus, Jesus has not denied
him?

Why

is he

not,

on

this

occasion,

mentioned

before the others, except to spare him the humiliation
of the contrast between his high position and the unworthy conduct he has shown ? But this special mention
of his name tells him that he is still dear to Jesus, and

that he will soon have an opportunity of expiating his
sin, by expressing his regret and repentance at the
very feet of his ever-loving, and now glorified, Master.
Yes, Peter is tardy in believing; but his conversion is
sincere, and Jesus would reward it.
Suddenly, then, in the course of this afternoon, the
Apostle sees standing before him that divine Master,
whom, three days previously, he had beheld bound
and led away by the servants of Caiphas. This Jesus
is now resplendent with light; he is the conqueror, the
glorious Messias: and yet what most affects the Apostle
is the ineffable goodness of this his Lord, who comes
to console him, rather than to show him the splendours
of his Resurrection. Who could describe the interview
between the penitent and his offended Master; the sorrow

3 St Mark xvi 7,

PASCHAL TIME

156

of Peter, now that he finds himself treated with such
generosity; the loving pardon which comes from Jesus’

lips, and fills the Apostle’s heart with Paschal joy ?
Blessed be thy name, O Jesus ! who thus raisest up from

his fall him whom thou art to leave us for our chief pastor
and father, when thou ascendest into heaven !
It is, indeed, just that we adore the infinite mercy
which dwells in the heart of our risen Jesus, and which

he shows with the same profusion and power as during

his mortal life: but let us also admire how, by this visit,

he continues in St Peter the mystery of the unity of the

Church—a mystery which is to be perpetuated in this

Apostle and his successors.

At the Last Supper, Jesus

spoke these words to him, in the presence

of the other

not;

confirm

Apostles:

and

‘1 have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail

brethren.’*

thou,

being

once

converted,

thy

The time is now come for establishing Peter

in this faith which is never to fail: Jesus gives it to him.
He himself instructs Peter: he makes him the foundation

of his Church.

In a few hours hence he will manifest

himself to the other Apostles; but Peter will be present
with his brethren.

Thus,

if Peter receive favours

not

granted to the rest, they never receive any but he has
a share in them.
It is their duty to believe on Peter’s
word: they do so. On Peter’s testimony, they believe

in the Resurrection, and proclaim it to others, as we shall

soon see.

loves them;

them

Jesus is to appear likewise to them, for he
he calls them

his brethren;

to be the preachers of his name

he has chosen

throughout the

world: but he will find them already instructed in the

faith of his Resurrection, because they have
Peter’s

testimony;

and

Peter’s testimony

has

believed

effected

in them the mystery of that unity, which he will effect

in the Church to the end of time.

Jesus’ apparition to the prince of the Apostles rests

on the authority of
first Epistle to the
those that took place
+ St Luke xxii 32.

St Luke's Gospel* and St Paul’s
Corinthians.®* It is the fourth of
on the day of the Resurrection.
* St Luke xxiv 34.
"1 Cor.xv 5.

EASTER
THE
The

Evening

SUNDAY:
EASTER

VESPERS

VESPERS

Office, called on that account

has brought

an immense concourse

services

they

the church.
as

We

157

Vespers,

of the faithful to

continue our description of to-day’s
were

formerly

celebrated,

in

order

had reference

to it,

that our readers may the more fully enter into the spirit
of the feast. The solemn administration of Baptism
having ceased to form an essential part of the Easter
functions,

the ancient

rites which

and especially those used during the Vespers, have fallen
almost universally into disuse.

We

will endeavour

to

give an idea of them, by blending the ancient ceremonies
with those that
places, are the

are now in use, and which, in most
same as those of other solemnities

throughout the year. It was not so eight hundred
years ago.
The bishop vested in his pontifical robes, and accompanied by all the clergy, went to what we should now
call the rood-screen, which was richly decorated, and
on which stood the crucifix. Here the cantors intoned
the Kyrie eleison, which was repeated nine times.
Immediately after this began the Vespers. The Antiphons

of the Psalms were not the same as those we now sing,

and which are taken from Lauds.
give the latter.

ANT. Angelus autem Domini descendit de celo, et
accedens revolvit lapidem,
et sedebat super eum. Alleluia, alleluia.

Of course, we only

_ ANT. And the angel of the
Lord descended from heaven;
and going to the stone, rolled
it back, and satonit. Alleluia,
alleluia.

PSALM 109

Dixit Dominus Domino
The Lord said to my Lord,
meo: Sede a dextris meis.
his son : Sit thou at my right
hand, and reign with me.
Donec ponam inimicos
Until on the day of thy last
tuos: scabellum pedum tu- comimg, 1 make thy ememies
orum.
thy footstool.

PASCHAL TIME
O Christ! the Lord, thy
Virgam virtutis tuz emittet Dominus ex Sion: do- Father, will send forth the
minare in medio inimico- Sceptre of thy power out of
rum tuorum.
Sion: from tAence rule thou
in the midst of thy enemies.
With thee is the principality
Tecum principium in_die
virtutis tuz in splendoribus in the day of thy strength, in
sanctorum:
ex
utero
ante
the brightness of the saints:
158

luciferum genui te."

For the Father
thee : From the

Juravit Dominus, et non
penitebit eum: Tu es sacerdos in @ternum sccundum
ordinem Melchisedech.
Dominus a_dextris tuis:
confregit in die ire suz reges.
Judicabit in nationibus,
implebit _ruinas: conquassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet:
propterea exaltabit caput.

hath said to
womb before

the day-star I begot thee.
The Lord hath sworn, and
he will not repent: he hath
said, speaking of thee, the GodMan : Thou art a priest for
ever, according to the order of
Melchisedech.
Therefore,
O

Fathey,

the

Lord thy Son is at thy right
hand: he hath broken kings
in the day of his wrath.
He shall also judge among

nations: in that terrible coming,
he shall fill the ruins of the
world : he shall crush the heads

in the land of many.
He shall drink, in the way,
of the torrent of sufferings therefore shall he lift up
the
head, on the day of his triumph
over death.
ANT. Angelus autem DoANT. And the angel of the
mini_descendit de ceelo, et Lord descended from heaven;
accedens _revolvit lapidem, and going to the stone, rolled

et sedebat super eum. Alle’ it back, and sat on it. Alleluia,
Iuia, alleluia.
alleluia.
ANT. Et ecce terremotus
ANT.
And
behold!
there
factus est magnus: Angelus was a great eax?.hfizake: for
enim Domini descendit de an angel of the
Lord came

ceelo, alleluia.

down from heaven, alleluia.

PSALM IIO
Confitebor

tibi,

Domine,

in toto corde meo: in consilio justorum et congregatione.
Magna
opera
Domini
exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus.

I will

praise

thee,

O

Lord,

with my whole heart: in
counsel of the just, and in
congregation.
Great are the works of
Lord: sought out according
all his wills,

the
the
the
to

EASTER

SUNDAY:

Confessio et magnificentia
opus ejus: et justitia ejus
‘manet in szculum’szculi.
Memoriam fecit _mirabilium suorum, misericors et
miserator Dominus:
escam
dedit timentibus se.
Memor

testamenti

_erit

sui:

in

szculum

virtutem

operum suorum annuntiabit
populo suo.
t det illis hereditatem
gentium: opera manuum ejus
veritas et judicium.

VESPERS

159

His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever.
He bath made a remembrance of his wonderful works,
being 2 merciful and gracious
Lord: he hath given food to
them that fear him.
He will be mindful for ever
of his covenant with men : he
will show forth to his people
the power of his works.
)
That he may give them his
Church, +the inheritance of the
gentiles: the works of his
hand are truth and judgement.
Al his commandments are
faithful, confirmed for ever
and_ever: made in truth and
equity.
He hath sent redemption
o bis people; he hath fherehy
his covenant for
commanded
o
ever.
Holy and terrible is his
name: the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom.
A good understandingto all
that do it: his praise continueth
for ever and ever.

Fidelia omnia mandata
ejus, confirmata in szculum
szculi: facta in veritate et
uitate.
edemptionem misit populo suo: mandavit in mterDum testamentum suum.
Sanctum et _terribile nomen ejus: initium sapientiz
timor Domini,
Intellectus bonus omnibus
facientibus eum: laudatio
ejus manet in szculum szculi.
there
ANT. Et ecce terremotus
behold!
And
ANT.
factus est
us: Angelus was a great earthfl:‘a:a: for
came
enim Domini descendit de an a
of the
ceelo, alleluia.
from heaven, alleluia.
down
_ANT. Erat autem aspectus
Ant. And his countenance
ejus sicut fulgur, vestimenta was as lightning, and his raiautem ejus sicut nix. Alle- ment was as snow. Alleluia,
luia, alleluia.
alleluia.
PSALM IIT

Beatus vir, qui timet DoBlessed is the man that
minum: in mandatis ejus feareth the Lord: he shall
volet nimis.
delight exceedingly in his commandments.
Potens in terra erit semen
His seed shall be mighty
ejus: generatio rectorum be- upon earth: the generation of
nedicetur.
the righteous shall be blessed.

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PASCHAL TIME

Gloria, et divitiz in domo
ejus: et justitia_ejus manet
in szculum saculi.
Exortum est in _tenebris
lumen rectis: misericors, et
miserator, et justus.
Jucundus homo, qui miserefur et commodat, disponet
sermones suos in judicio;
quia in =ternum non commovebitur.
In memoria wmterna erit
justus: ab auditione mala
non timebit.
Paratum cor ejus sperare
in Domino, confirmatum _est
cor ejus: non commovebitur
donec despiciat inimicos suos.
Dispersit, dedit pauperibus, justitia ejus manet in
seculum szculi; cornu ejus
exaltabitur in gloria.
Peccator videbit, et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et
tabescet: desiderium peccatorum peribit.
Axr. Erat autem aspectus
ejus sicut fulgur, vestimenta
autem ejus sicut nix. AlleInia, alleluia.

Glory and wealth shall be
in his house: and his justice
remaineth for‘ever and ever.
To the righteous a light is
risen up in darkness: he is
merciful, and compassionate,
and just.
Acceptable is the man that
showeth mercy and lendeth;
he shall order his words with
judgement: because he shall
Tot be moved for ever.
The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall
not fear the evil hearing.
His heart is ready to hope
in the Lord; his heart is
strengthened; he shall not be
moved until he look over his
enemies.
He hath distributed, he hath
given to the poor; his justice
remaineth for cver and ever:
his horn shall be exalted in
glory.
The wicked shall’see, and
shall be angry; he shall gnash
with his teeth, and pine away:
the_desire of the wicked shall
perish.
ANT. And his countenance
was as lightning, and his raiment was as snow. Alleluia,
alleluia.

After having sung.these three Psalms, the Office of
Vespers was interrupted, and the faithful exulted in
the expectation of the sublime ceremony which was
They remembered what holy
now to be performed.
emotions filled their souls when they were neophytes,
and shared in the triumph that was now preparing for
the newly baptized of this Easter. Meanwhile, the

cantors sang the Alleluia, which had so gladdened all
hearts, this morning, at the Mass.
Alleluia.
Pascha nostrum
immolatus est Christus. Alleluia.

Alleluia.

is sacrificed.

Christ,

our

Alleluia.

Pasch,

EASTER

SUNDAY:

VESPERS

161

The Canticle Magnificat was then chanted; after
which, the bishop sang the Collect of the feast. Immediately after this, the neophytes were taken in procession
to the font, from whose sacred waters they had risen,

last night, as Christ from his tomb; they came forth,
cleansed from their ‘sins, yea, radiant with light and
‘immortality. By this visit to the scene of their happ;
deliverance, the Church wished

to impress

them wit

a lifelong appreciation of the graces they had received
at their Baptism, and of the resemblance they then contracted with their risen Lord, who ‘ dieth now no more.’
The Paschal Candle was taken from its marble column,
and carried at the head of the procession. Now, as
well as during last night’s procession to the baptistery,
it represented the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites

amidst the Egyptian darkness. Closely after it followed
a deacon, in a white dalmatic, carrying the silver phial
of holy chrism, by whose anointing the neophytes had,
but a few hours since, received the Holy Ghost with
his seven wondrous Gifts. Next came the cross, and
seven acolytes carrying seven torches, symbolic of the
heavenly vision described in the Apocalypse. The
sacred ministers and priests advanced under the guidance
of the holy standard:

and after them,

face beaming with the heavenly

the bishop,

joy wherewith

his

these

two great mysteries had filled his soul—the triumphant
Resurrection of Christ, and the fecundity of holy Church.
Immediately after the pontiff came the neophytes,
walking two and two, and attracting all eyes by their
recollected demeanour and the beauty of their white
robes.

The

rest of the faithful closed the procession,

during which was sung the following Antiphon:
Ant.

In die resurrectionis

mee, dicit Dominus, alleluia: congregabo gentes, et
colligam regna, et efflundam

super vos aquam mundam.
eluia, alleluia.

ANT.

In

the

day

of

my

Resurrection, saith the me:
alleluia: I will assemble the
gentiles, and will gather the

kingdoms, and will pour out
upon you a clean water. Alleluia, alleluia.

* Apoc.
§ 12, ete.

1

162

PASCHAL TIME

The Antiphon was followed by the fourth Psalm of
Vespers, which
ifies the mame of the Lord, and

celebrates

the joys

of that mother, to whom

has given so many children.
ANT. Pre timore autem
ejus exterriti sunt custodes,
et facti sunt velut mortui,
alleluia.

our Lord

Ant. The guards were terrified with fear of him, and
became as men struck dead,
alleluia.

PSALM II2

Laudate pueri Dominum:
laudate nomen Domini.
Sit nomen Domini benedictum: ex hoc nunc et usque
in seculum.
A solis ortu usque ad_occasum: laudabile nomen Do‘mini.
Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus: et super coIos gloria ejus.
Quis sicut Dominus Deus
noster qui in altis habitat:
et humilia respicit in ccelo
et in terra ?
Suscitans a terra inopem:
et de stercore erigens pauem.
Ut collocet eum cum principibus: cum principibus popul sui.
Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo: matrem filiorum letantem.
_AnT. Pre timore autem
ejus exterriti sunt custodes,
et facti sunt velut mortui,
alleluia.
Meanwhile,

Praise the Lord, ye children:
praise ye the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the
Lord, from henceforth, now,
and for ever.
From the
rising of the sun,
unto the going down of the
same, the name of the Lord is
worthy of praise.
The Lord is high above all
nations; and his glory above
the heavens.
Who is as the Lord our God,
who dwelleth on high: and
looketh down on the low things
in heaven and in earth ?
Raising up the needy from
the earth, lifting
up the poor
out of the dunghill.
That he may place him with
princes: with- the princes of
is
people.
0 maketh a barren woman
to dwell in a_house, the joyful
‘mother of children.
ANT. The guards were terrified with fear of him, and
became as men struck dead,
alleluia.

the procession advanced

down

the nave,

descended the step: s of the portico, and traversed the
space between the cathedral and the baptistery. People,
clergy, and pontiff, all entered beneath the spacious
dome.
In the centre, surrounded by a balustrade,

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163

was the font, reflecting in its crystal waters the rays of
the evening sun. The neophytes were placed immediately round the balustrade, and were permitted to
fix their delighted gaze on that sacred element, which
had cleansed them from all their sins.
As soon as the Psalm Laudate was finished, the bishop
left the platform, where he had been sitting; and taking
the thurible in his hand, he walked round the font,
covering with clouds of incense the water he had so
solemnly blessed on the previous night, and to which he
was indebted for the happy increase of all these children
newly born to grace. When he had returned to his
throne, two cantors sang this verse:

V. Apud te, Domine, est
fons vite, alleluia.

Y. With thee, O Lord, is the

fountain of life, alleluia.

To which all answered:

R. Et in lumine tuo vi-

debimus

OREMUS.

lumen,

alleluia.

. And in thy
light we
ahall se0 light, atiraia.

Then the bishop:
LET US PRAY.

Prasta, quasumus, omnipotens, Deus, ut qui Resurrectionis Dominica _solemnia colimus, ereptionis nostre suscipere letitiam mereamur.
Per eumdem Christum Dominum
nostrum.
Amen.

Grant, we beseech thee, O
almighty God, that we, who
celebrate the solemnity of our
Lord’s Resurrection, may deserve to receive the joy of our
deliverance, Through the same
Christ our Lord. Amen.

After this prayer, the following Antiphon was sung,

in which
water:

is celebrated

the salvation given to man

by

ANT. Vidi aquam egreAnt. I saw water flowing
dientem de templo a latere from the right side of the
dextro, alleluia: et omnes, temple, alleluia: and all to
ad quos
pervenit aqua ista, whom that water came were'
salvi facti sunt, et dicent: saved, and they shall say:
Alleluia, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.
The Antiphon was followed by the fifth Psalm of
Sunday'’s Vespers, which celebrates Israel’s deliverance

164

PASCHAL

TIME

from Egypt by passing through the waters of the Red
Sea, and his journey towards the Promised Land. The
procession then left the baptistery to return to the
cathedral.
ANT. Respondens autem
ANT. And the angel an-

angelus dixit mulieribus:
Nolite timere: scio enim quod
Jesum queritis, alleluia.

swering, said to the women:
Fear not: for I know that ye
seek Jesus, alleluia.

PSALM 113
In exitu Israel de ZEgypWhen Israel went out of
to; domus Jacob de popu- Egypt, the house of Jacob
from a barbarous people.
lo barbaro.
Judea was made his sancFacta est Juda sanctificatio ejus: Israel potestas ejus. tuary, Israel his dominion.
Mare vidit, et fugit: Jor- . The sea saw and fled; Jordanis conversus est retror- dan was turned back.
sum.
Montes
exsultaverunt
ut
The mountains skipped like
arietes: et colles sicut agni rams; and the hills like the
lambs of the flock.
mare, quod
What aileth thee, O thou sea,
fugisti: et tu, Jordanis, quia that thou didst flee: and thou,
O Jordan, that thou wast
conversus es retrorsum ?
turnied back ?
Ye mountains that ye skipped
Montes exsultastis _sicut
arietes: et colles sicut agni like rams: and ye hills like
ovium ?
lambs of the flock ?
A facie Domini mota est
At the presence of the Lord
terra: a facie Dei Jacob.
the earth was moved, at the
presence of the God of Jacob.
Qui convertit petram in
Who turned the rock into
gtagns_aquarum: ‘et rupem
of water, and the stony
in fontes aquarum.
into fountains of waters.
Non nobis, Domine, non
Not to us, O Lord, not to
nobis: sed nomini tuo da us: but to thy name give
glory.
gloriam.
For thy mercy, and for thy
Super misericordia tua, et
veritate tua: nequando dicant truth's sake: lest the geatiles
gentes:
Ubi est Deus eorum ? should say: Where is their
God ?
But our God is in heaven:
Deus autem noster in
ceelo: omnia
quacumque he hath done all things whatsoever he would.
voluit, fecit.
Simulacra gentium argen- The idols of the gentiles are
tum et aurum: opera manu- silver and gold: the works of
the handsof men.
um hominum,

EASTER

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VESPERS

165

Os habent, et non loquenThey have mouths, and speak
tur: oculos habent, et non not: they have eyes, and see
videbunt.
not.
They have ears, and hear
Aures habent, et non audient: nareshabent, et non not: they have noses, and
odorabunt.
smell not.
They have hands, and feel
Manus habent, et non palpabunt, pedes habent, et non not: they have feet, and walk
ambulabunt: non clamabunt
not: neither shall they cry out
through their throat.
in gutture suo.
Lot them that make them
Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea: ot omnes qui become like unto them: and
all such as trust in them.
confidunt in eis.
The house of Israel hath
Domus Israel speravit in
Domino: adjutor eorum, et hoped in the Lord: he is their
.
helper and their protector.
protector eorum est.
Domus Aaron speravit in
The house of Aaron hath
Domino: adjutor eorum, et hoped in the Lord: he is their
protector eorum est.
helper and their protector.
Qui
timent Dominum,
hey that feared the Lord
speraverunt in Domino: adju- have hoped in the Lord: he
tor eorum, et protector eorum is their helper and their proest.
tector.
The Lord hath been mindDominus memor fuit nostri: et benedixit nobis.
ful of us, and hath blessed
us.
He hath blessed the house
Benedixit
domui
Israel:
of Tsrael: he hath blessed the
benedixit domui Aaron.
house of Aaron.
Benedixit omnibus qui tiHe hath blessed all that
ment Dominum: pusillis cum fear the Lord, both little and
majoribus.
great.
Adjiciat Dominus _super
May the Lord add blessings
vos: super vos, et super filios upon you: upon you, and upon
‘vestros.
your children.
Benedicti vos a Domino:
Blessed be you of the Lord,
qui fecit celum et terram.
who made heaven and earth.
Ceelum ceeli Domino: terThe heaven of heaven is the
ram autem dedit filiis ho- Lord’s: but the earth he has
minum.
given to the children of men.
Non mortui laudabunt te,
The dead shall not praise
Domine: neque omnes qui thee, O Lord: nor any of them
descendunt in infernum.
that go down to hell.
Sed nos qui vivimus, beneBut we that live bless the
dicimus Domino: ex hoc nunc Lord: from this time now and
et usque in seculum.
for ever.
ANT. Respondens autem
ANT. And the angel answerangelus dixit _mulieribus: ing, said to the women: Fear
Nolite timere; scio enim quod not: for I know that ye seek
Jesum queritis, alleluia.
Jesus, alleluia.

PASCHAL TIME

166

‘While singing this Psalm, which offers so many allu-

sions

to

the

favours

received

by

the neophytes,

the

procession had reached the porch of the cathedral.
Entering the holy place, it passed up the nave, as far
as the rood-screen.
There, the neophytes arranged
themselves, and the following prayer was sung in honour
of him who had saved them by his Cross and tomb:
¥. Dicite
alleluia.

in

nationibus,

¥. Say ye among the gen-

R. Quia Dominus regnavit a ligno, alleluia.

tiles, alleluia.

OREMUS.
Praesta, quasumus, omnipotens Deus, ut qui gratiam Dominicz_Resurrectionis agnovimus, ipsi per amorem Sancti Spiritus a morte
anime resurgamus. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

LET US PRAY.
Grant, we beseech thee, O
almighty God, that we, who
acknowledge the grace of our
Lord’s Resurrection, may rise
from the death of the soul, by
the love that cometh
of the
Holy Ghost. Through the same
Christ our Lord. Amen.

K. That the Lord hath reign-

ed from the Wood, alleluia.

The bishop then addressed this prayer to God:

It was thus, in the first eight centuries of the Church,
that the Easter Vespers concluded; and with a few
slight variations here and there, such was the ceremony

observed.

twice,

in

In some

others

churches the Magnificat was sung

thrice,

and

even

four

times.

The

essential rite of these Vespers was the procession to
the baptistery, during which were sung the Antiphons

we have given, and the Psalms Laudate, pueri, and In
exitu.
We will now resume the Office of Vespers, at

which we are assisting.
The

five usual

Hac

dies

Psalms

being finished,

the solemn Antiphon, which the
all the canonical hours of this feast.
minus:

quam

exsultemus

mur in ea.

fecit
et

Do-

late-

This

Lord

there is sung

Church

is

the

repeats

day

hath made:

which

in

the

let us be glad

and rejoice therein.

It is followed by the Canticle of our blessed Lady,
which forms an essential part of the Evening Office;

EASTER

SUNDAY:

VESPERS

167

and while it is being sung, the celebrant solemnly censes

the altar.

Ant. And looking, they saw
ANT. Et respicientes, viderunt revolutum lapidem ab the stone rolled away from the
ostio monumenti: erat quip- door of the sepulchre; for it
was very large, alleluia.
pe magnus valde, alleluia.
OUR LADY'S CANTICLE

(St Luke i)
Magnificat: anima mea DoMy soul doth magnify the
minum:
Lord;
And my spirit hath rejoiced
Et exsultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.
in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded
Quia respexit humilitatem
ancille suz' ecce enim, ex hoc the humility of his handmaid:
beatam me dicent omnes for, behold from henceforth all
generationes.
generations shall call me blessed.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui
Because he that is mighty
potens est: et sanctum no- hath done
great things to me:
men ejus.
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generEt misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies: timenti- ation unto_generation, to them
bus eum.
that fear him.
Fecit potentiam in brachio
He hath showed might in his
suo: dispersit superbos men- arm: he hath scattered the proud
te cordis sui.
in the conceit of their hearts.
Deposuit potentes de seHe hath put down the
mighty from their seat: and
de: et exaltavit humiles.
hath xalted the humble.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
He hath filled the hungry
et divites dimisit inanes.
with good things: and the rich
he hath sent empty away.
Suscepit Israel
puerum
He hath received Israel his
suum: recordatus misericor- servant, being mindful of his
diz suz.
mercy.
Sicut locutus est ad paAs’ he spake to our fathers,
tres mostros: Abraham et to Abraham and to his seed
semini ejus in szcula.
for ever.
ANT. Et respicientes, videANT. And looking, they saw
runt revolutum lapidem ab the stone rolicd awey from the
ostio monumenti: erat quip- door of the sepulchre; for it
pe magnus valde, alleluia.
was very large, alleluia.
OREMUS.
LET US PRAY.
Deus, qui hodierna die per
O God, who, on this day,
Unigenitum tuum
terni- by thy only-begotten Son's
tatis nobis aditum, devicta victory over death, didst open

168

PASCHAL

TIME

for us a passage to eternity:
stra, qua preveniendo aspi- grant that our prayers, which
ras, etiam adjuvando prose- thy preventing grace inspireth,
may by thy help become effecquere. Per ecumdem.
tual. Through the same, etc.
Benedicamus Domino. AlLet us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
leluia, alleluia.
Thanks be to God. AlleDeo gratias. Alleluia, alleluia.
luia, alleluia.
morte,

reserasti:

vota

mno-

During the Benediction of the most blessed Sacrament,
the following joyous Canticle is sung in some churches:
THE JOYFUL CANTICLE

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
O fili et filize,
Rex coelestis, Rex gloriz,
Morte surrexit hodie.
Alleluia.
Et Maria Magdalene,
Et Jacobi et Salome,
Venerunt corpus ungere.
Alleluia.
A Magdalena moniti,
Ad ostium monumenti
Duo currunt discipuli.
Alleluia.
Sed Joannes Apostolus
Cucurrit Petro citius,
Ad sepulchrum venit prius.
Alleluia.
In albis sedens angelus,
Respondit mulieribus,
Quia surrexit Dominus.

Alleluia.
Discipulis astantibus,
In medio stetit Christus,
Dicens: Pax vobis omnibus.
Alleluia.
Postquam
audivit

mus,
Quia surrexerat Jesus,

Remansit fide dubius.
Alleluia,

Didy-

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
O ye young men and maidens! on this day, the King
of heaven, the King of glory,
rose from the dead.
Alleluia.
And Mary Magdalen, and
Mary (mother of James), and
Salome, went that they might
anoint the body.
Alleluia.
Having been told by Magdalen, two of the disciples ran
to the door of the sepulchre.
Alleluia.
But the Apostle John outran Peter, and was the first at
the sepulchre.
Alleluia.
An angel clad in white was
sitting there, and said to the
women that the Lord was
risen.
Alleluia.
As the disciples were standing_together, Christ stood in
their midst, and said: Peace
be to you all |
Alleluia.
Didymus, having heard that
Jests "had 'risen, was incredulous.
Alleluia.

EASTER SUNDAY: VESPERS
Vide, Thoma, vide latus,
See, Thomas, see my

Vide pedes, vide manus;
Noli esse incredulus.
Alleluia.
Quando Thomas Christi
latus,
Pedes vidit atque manus,
Dixit: Tu es Deus meus.
Alleluia.
Beati qui non viderunt,
Et firmiter crediderunt:
Vitam @ternam habebunt.
Alleluia,
In hoc festo sanctissimo
Sit laus et jubilatio
Benedicamus Domino.
Alleluia.
De quibus nos humillimas,
Devotas atque debitas
Deo dicamus gratias.
Alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

169
side,

see my feet, see my hands!
Be not incredulous.
Alleluia.
As soon as Thomas saw Jesus’ side_and feet and hands,
he said: Thou art my God.
Alleluia.
Blessed are they that have
not seen, and have firmly believed | They shall have eternal life.
Alleluia,
Let us sing hymns of praise
and joy on this most holy
feast | Let us bless the Lord |
Alleluia,
Let us give to God our
most humble, devout and due
thanks, for all these his favours.
Alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

EVENING
The

day of Jesus’

Resurrection

is fast drawing

to

its close. It is the day honoured by God with the
greatest of all miracles; it is the most important day
that has ever dawned upon the world since light was
first created ; but the night will soon be upon us, shadow-

ing the brightness of the great day. Four times has
our Redeemer appeared.
He would now manifest him-

self to all his Apostles, and thus enable them to know
by their own experience what they have, a few hours

since, learned from Peter’s testimony.

a few moments

longer these

men

But, leaving for

whom

he honours

with the name of brethren, and who now believe in his
Rgsurrection, he would first console two hearts that are

grieving on his account, though their grief comes from
their want of faith.

Two men are traversing the road from Jerusalem
to Emmaus, slowly and sadly. They are evidently

TIME

PASCHAL

170
suffering from

some

cruel disappointment;

nay,

they

give one the idea that a motive of fear impels them to
leave the city. They were disciples of Jesus; but the

ignominious and violent death of this Master, in whom

they had such confidence, has filled their hearts with
bitter despondency.
They are ashamed of having joined
themselves with one who is not what they took him to
be.

They

hid themselves after his execution;

but the

report having been spread of his sepulchre having been
broken into, and the Body taken away, they resolve
to seek a safer refuge. Jesus’ enemies have great power,
and are doubtless busy taking proceedings against those
who have dared to break the seal of the sepulchre.
Perhaps all that have had any connection with this
Jesus will be arraigned before the public tribunal.

‘While they are thus conferring with each other on the

sad events of the last few days, a stranger overtakes
them and walks with them.

Itis Jesus; but so absorbed

are they in their own sorrow, that they do not recognize

him. The same happens to us, when we give way to
feelings of human grief: we lose sight of that God who
comes to cheer us by his presence along the path of our
exile. Jesus asks these two men the cause of their
sadness. They tell him with all simplicity, and this
King of glory, who has, this very day, triumphed over

death, deigns to enter into a long conversation with
them, and explain to them, as they walk along, the

scriptural prophecies concerning

the humiliations, the

death, and the glory of the Messias. The two wayfarers
are delighted with his words. As they afterwards say
to each other, their hearts burn within them as the
stranger goes on telling them these grand truths. Jesus
feigns to bid them farewell, but they will not hear of it:
‘ Stay with us,’ they say to him, ‘ for the evening cometh
on, and the day is far spent.’? They take him into their

house

at Emmaus,

constrain him to sit down

to table

with them, and yet, strange to say, they have not an

idea who this heavenly instructor is, who has solved all
* St Luke xxiv 29,

SUNDAY:

EASTER

their doubts with such persuasive wisdom
Do not we resemble these two disciples,
ourselves to be influenced by human
feelings ?
Jesus is near us, he speaks to
us, he consoles us; and yet, oftentimes,
we recognize him !
At

length,

incredulous

Jesus

two

head of the table;

it is for him to break the bread.

He

They

himself

and eloquence !
when we allow
thoughts and
us, he instructs
it is long before
our

disciples.

makes

171

EVENING

have

takes it into his divine hands,

known

to

placed him

at the

as he did at the Last

Supper; and no sooner has he divided the bread and

given them their portion, than their eyes are opened,

and they recognize their guest as Jesus, the risen Jesus.
They would throw themselves at his feet—but he has
disappeared, leaving them mute with surprise, and yet
transported with exceeding joy. It is the fifth apparition. It is described by St Luke, and forms the Gospel
of to-morrow’s Mass.
The two disciples cannot wait; though so late in the

evening, they must hurry back to Jerusalem, and tell
the Apostles that their Master is living, that they have
seen him, and talked with him. They therefore leave
Emmaus, where they thought to pass the night, and are
soon back in the city from which they had

fled.

They

tremblingly

are soon with the Apostles; but they find

them already aware of the glad tidings, and fervent in
their faith of the Resurrection.
Before they have
time to open their lips, the Apostles exclaim: ‘ The Lord
hath truly risen, and hath appeared unto Simon !'*
The two disciples then relate what has just happened to
themselves.
Such is the conversation of the Apostles—men now
unknown,

but whose names are, in a short time hence,

to be published and loved throughout the whole universe. The doors of the house where the little flock is
assembled are kept carefully closed, for they are afraid
of being discovered. The soldiers, who had kept watch
at the sepulchre, went early this morning to the chief
3 St Luke xxiv 34.

PASCHAL TIME

172

priests, and told them what had happened. They were,
hereupon, bribed to perjure themselves, and say that,
while they were asleep, the disciples of Jesus came and
took away the Body. The Jewish authorities hereby
hoped to screen themselves from confusion; but such a
plot was likely to excite the people’s indignation against
the Apostles, and these thought it necessary to take
precautions. Ten of them are now together in the

house;

for

Thomas,

who

was. present

disciples came in from Emmaus,

when

the

two

has taken the oppor-

tunity, afforded by the darkness of the hour, to go forth

into the city.

The Apostles,

the great events

then,

are speaking

of this day,

when

to one another

of

lo! Jesus stands

before them, and yet the door has not been opened.
That well-known voice and figure and face |—yes, it is
Jesus!

He speaks to them with an accent of tenderest

love, and says: ‘ Peace be to you!’* What can they
say ? This sudden and mysterious visit robs them of
self-possession. They have no idea yet of the qualities
of a glorified body; and, though firmly believing in the
mystery of their Lord’s Resurrection, they are not
uite sure that what they now behold is not a phantom.
esus knows this. During the whole day, he seems to
have been more anxious to show his love than to proclaim his glory; and, therefore, he permits them to

touch him; yea, in order to convince them of the reality
of his divine Body, he asks them to give him to eat, and

he eats in their presence. This loving familiarity of their
Master makes them weep with joy, and when Thomas
returns to them, they express their delight in these
simple words: ‘ We have secen the Lord I’? It is the
sixth apparition of Jesus on the day of his Resurrection.
It is related in the Gospel of St John, and is read in the
Mass of Low Sunday.
Be thou blessed and glorified, O conqueror of death !
for that, on this day, thou didst six times appear to thy

creatures, so to content thy love, and confirm our faith

* St John xx 19.

* Ibid. xx 25.

EASTER

SUNDAY:

EVENING

173

in thy Resurrection! Be thou blessed and glorified for
having consoled thy afflicted Mother by thy dear presence
and caresses | Be thou blessed and glorified for having,
with a single word of thine, brought joy to Magdalen’s
heart ! Be thou blessed and glorified for having gladdened the holy women, and permitted them to kiss thy
sacred feet ! Be thou blessed and glorified for having
with thine own lips given Peter the assurance of his
pardon, and for having confirmed in him the gifts of the
primacy, by revealing to him, before all others, the fundamental dogma of faith! Be thou blessed and glorified
for having encouraged the drooping confidence of the
two disciples of Emmaus, by revealing thyself to them !
Be thou blessed and glorified for having visited thine
Apostles, and removed

condescension !

And

all their doubts by thy lovin;

lastly, O Jesus!

be thou

blesseg

and glorified for that, on this day, thou hast so mercifully
given us, by thy holy Church, to share in the joy of thy

holy Mother, of Magdalen and her companions, of Peter,
of the disciples of Emmaus, and of thine Apostles ! This
year’s Easter is as full of reality and life and joy, yea,
and

of thyself,

as was

that whereon

thou

didst

rise

from the grave. All times and seasons belong to thee:
and as the material world has ever been supported by

thy power, so the spiritual world lives by thy mysteries.

Praise, then, and honour, and benediction be to thee, O

Jesus ! for thy Resurrection, which makes this day the

grandest and gladdest of the year |

Let us to-day celebrate the first of the six days of
creation—namely, the Sunday, when light was made at
the sovereign bidding of the Word of God. This Word
is the uncreated light of the Father, and he began his

work of creation by calling into existence this material
image of his own brightness. He himself calls the just,

children of light; and sinners children of darkness.
When he took flesh and showed himself to men, he said
to them: ‘ I am the light of the world: he that followeth
me, walketh not in darkness, but

shall have the light

174

of life.””

PASCHAL
And lastly—to

TIME

show us that

there exists a

sacred harmony between the two orders of nature and

grace—he rose from the gloomy sepulchre on that same

day whereon he had created the visible light, the most
precious of material blessings.
The Gothic Church of Spain thus expresses, in the
following beautiful prayer of her breviary, the gratitude
felt by man for the twofold favour granted to us, by the
Creator, on this ever-blessed day:

CAPITULA

Deus, cujus unum hunc
ex omnibus duximus diem,
in quo creatis rebus omnibus_voluisti_esse et prasentis lucis indicem, et wterni
luminis _testem, 'ut in eo
exsurgeret illuminatio temorum, atque resurgeret iluminatio animarum: quique
Dominicz
_et operationis
rimus, et
resurrectionis
idoneus revolutus in circulo,
et redactus in_calculo, paschalis solemnitatis inciperet mysterium, et concluderet sacramentum; respice
in hoc tempore acceptabili,
et in hac die salutis super
servos tuos, Domine, quos
redemisti de_captivitate neuitiz spirituali _trophwo
ominicz passionis: quos
Agni tui sanguine tinctos,
ne vastator lazderet, liberasti; esto mobis pravius in
solitudine vitz hujus, quo
et in die calorem tentationis
nostre_quasi nubes protegens obumbres, et in nocte
a_tenebris peccatorum nos
quasi columna ignis inlumines: ut, dum ades ad
salutem, perducas ad requiem.

O God, to whom we owe
this the first of days, whereon

thou wouldst
created things

manifest
both the

to all
visible

light, and him who is the
witness of eternal light, that on
this one same day there might
rise the light of the seasons and
the light of souls: which day,
being the first of our Lord
creation, and (by a_heavenly
calculated revolution) the one
chosen as fittest for his Resurrection, both begins and ends
the mystery of the Paschal solemnity : _mercifully, O Lord
(for now is the acceptable time,
the day of salvation), mercifully
look upon thy servants, whom
thou

hast

redeemed

from

the

spiritual bondage of sin by the
victory of our Lord’s Passion.
Look upon them whom thou
hast freed from the destroying
angel, by sprinkling them with
the Bioodof thy Lamb. _Be unto us our guide in the wilderness
of this life; that during the day,
thou mayest be to us a cloud
protecting and shadowing us
from the heatof temptation; and,
during the night, a pillar of fire,
enlightening us amidst the darkness'of sin. Here save us, that

50 thou mayst lead us to our rest.
* St Joha viii 12.

EASTER SUNDAY:

EVENING

175

We would fain close this glorious solemnity by delighting our readers with selections from the various
Liturgies in honour of our risen Jesus; but we have
already exceeded our usual limits, though we have only
said what was necessary to explain the Offices. We
therefore reserve these liturgical riches for the days of
our Octave, contenting ourselves for to-day with a few
stanzas from the hymn used by the Greek Church in her
morning Office for Easter Sunday.
HYMN

(In Dominica
Dies est Resurrectionis:
splendescamus populi. ~Pascha Domini,
Pascha: etenim ex morte ad vitam,
atque ex terra ad coelum
Christus Deus deduxit nos,
triumphale carmen canentes.
Sensus
emundemus, et
Christum inaccesso lumine
resurrectionis fulgentem videbimus, et Salvete dicentem perspicue audiemus,
triumphale carmen canentes.
Ceeli digne letentur, terraque glorietur: festum solemniter agat mundus, visibilis totus et invisibilis; surrexit enim Christus, latitia
@terna.
* Venite, potum in quo corroboramur bibamus novum,
non ex infeecunda rupe
mirabiliter eductum; et immortalitatis fontem ex Christi sepulchro manentem.
Ompia lumine nunc releta sunt, cceelum, terra et
inferni; solemniter igitur
agat omnis creatura Christi
resurrectionem in qua Airmatur.

Resurrectionss)
It is the Resurrection day;
let us be radiant with joy, O
ye people! It is the Pasch of
the Lord, the Passover: for
Christ our God 1as; lad) s,
singing
our song of triumph,
from death to Tifs and from
earth to heaven.
Let us purify our senses,
and we shall see Christ refulgent in the inaccessible light of
his Resurrection. We, singing
our song of triumph, shall hear
him sayingto us: * All hail I
Let the heavens worthily
rejoice, and let earth be in her
glory. Let the whole world,
visible and invisible, solemnize
the feast; for Christ, the
eternaljoy, hath ris
Come, let us receive the new
drink, which strengthens us;
it has not been miraculously
drawn from a barren rock, but is
a fount of immortality, flowing
from the sepulchre of Christ.
All things, heaven, earth,
and what is beneath the earth,
all are now filled with light
let every creature, therefore,
solemnize Christ's Resurrecfio':l, whereby all are strengthened.

176

PASCHAL

Heri tecum, Christe, sepeliebar; hodie tecum resurgente surgo: heri crucifigebar tecum; tu me conglorifica, Salvator, in regno
tuo.

Deiparens David coram
adumbrante arca subsiliebat saltans; nos vero, populus Dei sanctificatus, " figurarum
exitum
videntes
in afatu divino gaudeamus, quia surrexit Christus
tamquam omnipotens.
Valde mane eamus, et pro
myrrha hymnum offeramus
Domino;
et Christum
videbimus, justitiz solem, vitam
cunctis Tenascentem.
Infinitam
misericordiam
tuam_ aspicientes illi quos
alligabant _inferni vincula,
ad lucem lzto pede properarunt, Christe, Paschati
plaudentes zterno.
Adeamus lampadarii ad
Christum, ex sepulchro progredientem tanquam sponsum; et in festivis agminibus Pascha Dei salutare concelebremus.

TIME

Yesterday, O Jesus! I was
buried together With thee; today, I rise with thee. Yesterday, I was crucified with thee;
do thou, my Saviour, give me
to share with thee in the glory
of thy kingdom.
David, the ancestor of Christ
our God, danced before the
figurative Ark; but we, the holy
people of God, we who witness
the fulfilment of the figures,
must rejoice in the divine Spirit
that is within us, for Christ has
risen, as the omnipotent One.
Let us go at dawn of day,
and offer to our Lord the
myrrh of our hymas: we shall
see him who is the Sun of
justice, and gives life to all
creatus
They, whom the fetters of
limbo~ kept bound, saw th
infinite mercy, O Jesus| and,
with a joyful step, hastened to
meet the light, thus celebrating
the eternal Pasch.
Let us, with lamps in our
bands, go forth to meet Christ,
coming forth, as a Bridegroos
from his sepulchre. Let us,
festive groups, celebrate together the saving Pasch of God.

77

EASTER MONDAY

Caxter

MWondap

Hazc dies quam fecit Do- _ This is the day which the
minus: exsultemus et lzte- Lord hath made: let us be
mur in ea.
glad and rejoice therein.
O ample and so profound is the mystery of the
glorious Pasch, that an entire week may well be
spent in its meditation.
Yesterday, we limited ourselves
to our Redeemer’s rising from the tomb, and showing
himself, in six different apparitions, to them that were
dear tohim.

We will continue to give him the adoration,

gratitude, and love, which are so justly due to him for the
triumph, which is both his and ours; but it also behoves
us respectfully to study the lessons canveyed by the
Resurrection of our divine Master,

that thus the light

of the great mystery may the more plentifully shine upon
us, and our joy be greater.

And
tell us
stand
of the

first of all, what is the Pasch? The Scriptures
that it is the immolation of the lamb. To underthe Pasch, we must first understand the mystery
lamb.
From the earliest ages of the Christian

Church,

we

find the lamb

represented,

in the mosaics

and frescoes of the basilicas, as the symbol of Christ’s

sacrifice and triumph. Its attitude of sweet meekness
expressed the love wherewith our Jesus shed his Blood
for us; but it was put standing on a green hill, with the
four rivers of Paradise flowing from beneath its feet,
signifying the four Gospels which have made known
the glory of his name throughout the earth. At a later
period, the lamb was represented holding a cross, to
which was attached a banner: and this is the form in
which we now have the symbol of the Lamb of God.
Ever

since sin entered the world, man

the lamb.

Without

the lamb

has need

of

he never could have
12

PASCHAL TIME

178

inherited heaven, but would have been, for all eternity,
an object of God’s just anger. In the very beginning
of the world, the just Abel drew down upon himself
the mercy of God, by offering on a sod-made altar the
fairest lamb of his flock: he himself was sacrificed, as a
lamb, by the murderous hand of his brother, and thus
became a type of our divine Lamb. Jesus, who was slain
by his own Israelite brethren. When Abraham ascended
the mountain to make the sacrifice commanded him by
God, he immolated, on the altar prepared for Isaac, the
ram he found amidst the thorns.
Later on, God spoke

to Moses, and revealed to him the Pasch: it consisted of
alamb that was to be slainand eaten.

A few days back,

we had read to us the passage from the Book of Exodus
where God gives this rite to his people.
The Paschal
Lamb

was to be without blemish;

its blood was to be

sprinkled as a protection against the destroying angel,
and its flesh was to be eaten. This was the first Pasch.
It was most expressive as a figure, but void of reality.
For fifteen hundred years was it celebrated by God’s
people, and the spiritual-minded among the Jews knew
it to be the type of a future Lamb.
In the age of the great prophets, Isaias prayed God
to fulfil the promise he made at the beginning of the world.
We united in this his sublime and inspired prayer, when,
during Advent, the Church read to us his magnificent
prophecies.
How fervently did we repeat those words:
‘ Send forth, O Lord, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth !’!
This Lamb was the long-expected Messias; and we said

to ourselves: Oh what a Pasch will that be, wherein such
a Lamb is to be victim! What a feast wherein he is
to be the food of the feasters !
‘ When the fulness of time came and God sent his
Son ** upon our earth, this Word made Flesh, after thirty

years of hidden

life, manifested

himself to men.

He

came to the river Jordan, where John was baptizing. No
sooner did the holy Baptist see him, than he said to his
disciples: ‘ Behold the Lamb of God ! Behold him who

¥ Jsa, xvi

*Gal, iv. 4.

EASTER

MONDAY

179

taketh away the sin of the world ! By these words
the saintly Precursor proclaimed the Pasch; for he was
virtually telling men that the earth then possessed the
true Lamb, the Lamb

of God, of whom

it had been in

expectation four thousand years. Yes, the Lamb who
was fairer than the one offered by Abel, richer in mystery

than the one slain by Abraham on the mount, and more

spotless than the one the Israelites were commanded to

sacrifice in Egypt, had come. Hewasthe Lamb so earnestly prayed for by Isaias; the Lamb sent by God himself;
in a word, the Lamb of God.

A few years would pass,

and

then

the immolation.

But

have

been

laved with his precious

three

days

ago

we

assisted at his sacrifice; we witnessed the meek patience
wherewith he suffered his executioners to slay him; we

cleansed us from all our sins.

Blood,

and

it has

The shedding of this redeeming Blood was needed for

our

Pasch.

Unless

could not have

angel.

we

escaped

had

been

marked

the sword of the

with

it, we

destroying

It has made us partake of the purity of the God

who so generously shed it for us.

Our neophytes have

risen whiter than snow from the font, wherein that Blood

was mingled. Poor sinners that had lost the innocence
received in their Baptism have regained their treasure,
because the divine energy of that Blood has been applied

to their souls. The whole assembly of the faithful are
clad in the nuptial garment, rich and fair beyond measure,
for it has been ‘ made white in the Blood of the Lamb."

But why this festive garment ?

It is because we are

invited to a great banquet: and here, again, we find our

Lamb.
He himself is the food of the happy guests, and
the banquet is the Pasch. The great Apostle St Andrew,
when confessing the name of Christ before the pagan pro-

consul Zgeas, spoke these sublime words:.‘ I daily offer

upon the altar the spotless Lamb, of whose flesh the whole
multitude of the faithful eat; the Lamb that is sacrificed
remains whole and living.” Yesterday this banquet was
celebrated throughout the entire universe; it is kept up
* St John i 29.
* Apoc. vil 14.

180

PASCHAL TIME

during all these days, and by it we contract a close union
with the Lamb, who incorporates himself with us by the
divine food he gives us.
Nor does the mystery of the Lamb end here. Isaias
besought God to “send the Lamb ’ who was to be ‘ the
ruler of the earth.”

He comes, therefore, not only that

he may be sacrificed, not only that he may feed us with

his sacred Flesh, but likewise that he may command the

earth and be King. Here, again, is our Pasch. The
Pasch is the announcement of the reign of the Lamb.

The citizens of heaven thus proclaim it: “ Behold, the Lion

of the tribe of Juda, the root of David hath conquered I
But, if he be the Lion, howis he the Lamb ?

attentive to the mystery.

Let us be

Out of love for man, who

needed redemption, and a heavenly food that would invigorate, Jesus deigned to be as a lamb: but he had,

moreover, to triumph over his own and our enemies; he

had to reign, for ‘ all power was given to him in heaven
and in earth.”* In this his triumph and power, he is a

lion; nothing can resist him; his victory is celebrated this
day throughout the whole world. Listen to the great
deacon of Edessa, St Ephrem:

was taken down

‘ At the twelfth hour, he

from the Cross as a lion that slept.’?

Yea, verily, our Lion slept; for his rest in the sepulchre
“ was more like sleep than death,” as St Leo remarks.*

Was not this the fulfilment of Jacob’s dying prophecy ?

This patriarch, speaking of the Messias that was to be
born of his race, said: ‘ Juda is a lion’s whelp. To the
prey, my son, thou art gone up!
Resting thou hast
couched as a lion. Who shall rouse him ?’* He has
roused himself by his own power. He has risen; a lamb
for us, a lion for his enemies; thus uniting, in his Pérson,
gentleness and power. This completes the mystery of
our Pasch: aLamb, triumphant, obeyed, adored. Let us
pay him the homage so justly due. Until we be permitted to join, in heaven, with the millions of angels and
the four-and-twenty elders, let us repeat, here on earth,

i Apoc. v s.
2 St Matt. xaviii 18.
* In sanctam Parasceven, et in Crucem et Latronem.
¢ First Sermon, On the Resurrection.
*'Gen. xlix’o.

181
EASTER MONDAY
the hymn they are for ever singing: ‘ The Lamb that was
slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom,

and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction !I'*
Formerly, the whole of this week was kept as a feast,
with the obligation of resting from servile work. The

edict, published by Theodosius in 38, forbidding all law
proceedings during the same period, was supplementary

to this liturgical law, which we find mentioned in the
Sermons of St Augustine,® and in the Homilies of St

John Chrysostom. The second of these two holy Fathers
thus speaks to the newly baptized: ‘ You are enjoying a
daily instruction during these seven days. We put before
you a spiritual banquet, that thus we may teach you how
to arm yourselves and fight against the devil, who is now
preparing to attack you more violently than ever; for the

greater is the gift you have received, the greater will be

the combat

you

must go through to preserve it. . . .

During these following seven days, you have the word of
God preached to you, that you may go forth well pre-

pared to fight with your enemies. Moreover, you know
it is usual to keep up a nuptial feast for seven days:

you are now celebrating a spiritual marriage, and therefore we have established the custom of a seven days’
solemnity.’?
So fervently did the faithful of those times appreciate

and love the Liturgy, so lively was the interest they took

in the newly made children of holy mother Church, that

they joyfully went through the whole of the services of
this week. Their hearts were filled with the joy of the
Resurrection, and they thought it but right to devote
their whole time to its celebration. Councils laid down
canons, changing the pious custom into a formal law.
The Council of Macon, in 585, thus words its decree: ‘ It
behoves us all fervently to celebrate the feast of the
Pasch, in which our great High Priest was slain for our
sins, and to honour it by carefully observing all it pre-

+ Apoc. v 1z.

our Lopd's Sermon on the Mount.
* Homil. *v. Onde Resurrectione,

PASCHAL TIME

182
scribes.

Let no one, therefore, do any servile work dur-

ing these six days (which followed the Sunday), but let all
come together to sing the Easter hymns, and assist at
the daily Sacrifice, and praise our Creator and Redeemer
in the evening, morning, and mid-day.” The Councils
of Mayence (813) and Meaux (845) lay down similar rules.
We find the same prescribed in Spain, in the seventh
century, by the edicts of kings Receswind and Wamba.

* The

Greek

renewed them

Church

in her Council

in

Trullo ; Charlemagne, Louis the Good, Charles the Bald,

sanctioned them in their Capitularia, and the canonists

of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Burchard, St Ivo of

Chartres, Gratian, tell us they were in force in their time.
Finally, Pope Gregory IX inserted them in one of his
the thirteenth century. But their observance
decretalsin
had then fallen into desuetude, at least in many places.
The Council held at Constance, in 1094, reduced the
solemnity of Easter to the Monday and Tuesday. The

two great liturgists, John Beleth in the twelfth, and
Durandus

in

their

in the

times,

thirteenth

this

was

the

century,

practice

inform
in

us that,

France.

It

gradually became the discipline of the whole of the
western Church, and continued to be so, until relaxation
crept still further on, and a dispensation was obtained
by some countries, first for the Tuesday, and finally for
the Monday.
In order fully to understand the Liturgy of the whole
Easter Octave (Low Sunday included), we must remember that the neophytes were formerly present,
vested in their white garments, at the Mass and Divine
Office of each day. Allusions to their Baptism are continually being made in the chants and Lessons of the
entire week.
At Rome, the Station for to-day is at the basilica of St
Peter. On Saturday, the catechumens received the
Sacrament of regeneration in the Lateran basilica of our
Saviour; yesterday, they celebrated the Resurrection in
the magnificent church of St Mary; it is just that they
3 Canon 11, Labbe, t. v.

EASTER

MONDAY:

MASS

183

should come, on this third day, to pay their grateful devotions to Peter, on whom

Christ has built his whole

Church.
Jesus our Saviour, Mary Mother of God and of
men, Peter the visible head of Christ's mystical Body,
these are the three divine manifestations whereby we
first entered, and have

Christian Church.

maintained

our

place

in,

the

MASS
The Introit, which is taken from the Book of Exodus,

is addressed to the Church’s new-born children.
It reminds them of the milk and honey which were given to

them on the night of Saturday last, after they had
received Holy Communion. They are true Israelites,
brought into the Promised Land. Let them, therefore,
praise the Lord, who

has chosen them from the pagan

world, that he might make them his favoured people.
INTROIT

Introduxit vos Dominus
in terram fluentem lac_et
mel, allelnia: et ut lex Domini semper sit in ore vestro. Alleluia,
alleluia.
invocate nomen ejus: annuntiate inter gentes opera ejus.
¥. Gloria Patri. Introduxit.

The Lord hath brought you
into a land flowing with milk
and honey, alleluia: let then
the law of the Lord be ever in
your mouth. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Praise the Lord, and
call upon his name: publish
his works among the gentiles.
¥. Glory, etc. The Lord, etc.

At the sight of Jesus, her Spouse, now freed from the

bonds of death, holy Church prays God, that we, the

members of this divine Head, may come to that perfect
liberty of which the Resurrection is the type. Our long

slavery to sin should have taught us the worth of that
liberty of the children of God, which our Pasch has re-

stored to us.

COLLECT

Deus, qui_solemnitate pa0 God, who by the mystery
schali mundo remedia con- of the Paschal solemnity hast
tulisti: populum tuum qua- bestowed remedies on the world ;

184

sumus
quere:
tatem
et ad
ternam.

Lectio

PASCHAL TIME
ccelesti dono prose- continue, we beseech thee, thy
ut et perfectam liber- heavenly blessings on thy people,
consequi mereatur, that they may deserve to obtain
vitam proficiat sempi- pericct Liberty, and advance to-

etc.
wards eternal life. Through,

Per Dominum.

EPISTLE

Actuum ApostoloTum.
Cap. X,
In diebus
Stans
Petrus _in medio plebis,
dixit: Viri fratres, vos sci
tis quod factum est verbum
Judmam:
universam
per
incipiens enim a~ Galilza
ost baptismum quod préBicavit Joannes, Jesum a
unxit
Nazareth: quomodo
eum Deus Spiritu Sancto
et virtute, qui pertransiit
benefaciendo, ~ et~ sanando
omnes oppressos a diabolo,
uoniam Deus erat cum illo.
omsumus
testes
nos
t
nium, que fecit in regione
et Jerusalem,
Judworum
suspenquem _occiderunt.
dentesin ligno. Hunc Deus
suscitavit tertia die, et dedit
non
fieri,
manifestum
eum
omni populo, sed testibus
preordinatis a Deo: nobis,
qui manducayimus et bibimus cum illo, postquam
resurrexit a mortuis. Et
preecepit nobis praedicare poPulo, et testificari quia ipse

est qui constitutus est a Deo
judex vivorum et mortuo-

Lesson from the Acts of the
Apostles.
Ch. X.
In those days: Peter standing up in the midst of the
people, said: You know the
word that hath been published
through all Judea: for it began from Galilee, after the
baptism which John preached,
Jesus of Nazareth: how God
anointed
him
with the Holy
Ghost, and with power, who
went ‘about doing good, and
healing all that were oppressed
by the devil, for God was with
him. And we are witnesses
of all things that he did in the
land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom' they killed hanging him upon a tree. Him
God raised up the third day,
and gave him to be made
manifest, not to all the people,
but to 'witnesses preordained
by God, even to us, who did
eat and drink with him after
he rose again from the dead.
And he commanded us to
preach to the people, and
to testify that it is he who
was appointed by God to be
judge of the lviog and of
dead. To him all the
pmphets give testimony, that
through his name all receive

rum. Huic omnes propheta
testimonium perhibent, remissionem peccatorum acciPpere per nomen ejus omnes remission of sins who believe
in him,
Qui credunt in cum.
St Peter spoke these words to Cornelius, the centurion,

and to the household and friends of this gentile, who had

EASTER

185

MASS

MONDAY:

called them together to receive the Apostle whom God
had sent to him. He had come to prepare them for
Baptism,

and

thus

make

them

the first-fruits of the

gentile world, for up to this time the Gospel had been
preached only to the Jews.

Let us take notice how it is

St Peter, and not any other of the Apostles, who throws
open to us gentiles the door of the Church, which Christ
has built upon him as upon the impregnable rock. This
passage from the Acts of the Apostles is an appropriate
Lesson for this day, whose Station is in the basilica of St
Peter: it is read near the confession of the great Apostle,
and in presence of the neophytes, who have been converted from the worship of false gods to the true faith.
Let us observe, too, the method used by the Apostle in
the conversion of Cornelius and the other gentiles.

begins by speaking to them concerning Jesus.

He

He tells

them of the miracles he wrought; then, having related

how he died the ignominious death of the Cross, he insists
on the fact of the Resurrection as the sure guarantee of
his being truly God. He then instructs them on the
mission of the Apostles, whose testimony must be re-

ceived—a testimony which carries persuasion with it,
it

seeing

was

most

disinterested,

and

availed

them

nothing save persecution.
He, therefore, that believes
in the Son of God made Flesh, who went about doing

good, working all kinds of miracles; who died upon the

Cross, rose again from the dead, and entrusted to certain
men, chosen by himself, the mission of continuing on

earth the ministry he had begun—he that confesses all
this, is worthy to.receive, by holy Baptism, the remission of his sins. Such is the happy lot of Cornelius
and his companions; such has been that of our
neophytes.
Then is sung the Gradual, which repeats the expression

of Paschal joy.

The

verse, however,

is different

from yesterday’s, and will vary every day till Friday.
The Alleluia verse describes the angel coming down from

heaven,

that

he may

open

the empty

sepulchre,

manifest the self-gained victory of the Redecmer.

and

PASCHAL TIME

186

GRADUAL

. Hac dies, quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus, et latemur in ea.
¥. Dicat nunc Israel, quoniam bonus: quoniam in
szculum misericordia ejus.
‘Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. Angelus Domini descendit de caelo: et accedens
revolvit lapidem, et sedebat
super eum.

This is the day which the
Lord hath made: let us be
glad and rejoice therein.
Y. Let Israel now say, that
the Lord is good: that his
mercy endureth for ever.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Y. An angel of the Lord
descended from heaven; and
coming he rolled back the
stone, and sat upon it.

The Sequence, Victime Paschali, p. 145.
GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Lucam.
Cap. XXIV.
In illo tempore: Duo ex
discipulis Jesu ibant ipsa
die in castellum, quod erat in
spatio stadiorum _sexaginta
ab Jerusalem, nomine Emmaus. Et ipsi loquebantur
ad invicem de his_omnibus,
quae acciderant. Et factum
est, dum fabularentur, et secum quarerent: et ipse Jesus appropinquans ibat cam
illis: ool autem ilorum
tenebantur

rent.

Et

ne

eum

ait ad

agnosce-

illos: Qui

sunt hi sermones, quos confertis ad invicem ambulantes, et estis tristes? Et rendens unus, cuinomen
eophas, dixit ei: Tu solus
peregrinus es in Jerusalem,
et non cognovisti qua facta
sunt in illa his diebus ?_Quibus ille dixit: Qua? Et dixerunt: De Jesu Nazareno,
qui fuit vir propheta, potens
in opere et sermone, coram
Deo et omni populo: et quo-

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Ch. XXIV.
At that time: Two of the
disciples of Jesus went the
same day to a town which was
sixty furlongs from Jerusalem,
named Emmaus. And they
talked together of all these
things which had happened.
And it came to pass, that while
they talked and reasoned with
themselves, Jesus himself also
drawing near, went with them.
But their eyes were held that
they should not know him.
And he said to them: What
are these discourses that you
hold one with another as you
walk, and are sad ? And the
one of them, whose name was
Cleophas, answering said to
him: Art thou ouly a stranger
in Jerusalem, and hast not
known the things that have
been done there in these da
To whom he said
t
ings ? And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
who Was a prophet mighty in

EASTER

MONDAY:

modo eum tradiderunt summi sacerdotes, et principes
nostri in damnationem mortis, et crucifixerunt
eum. Nos
autem sperabamus quia ipse
esset redempturus Isracl: et
nunc super
hzc omnia, tertia dies est hodie quod hac
facta sunt. Sed et mulieres
quzdam ex nostris terruerunt nos, quae ante lucem
fuerunt

ad

monumentum,

et non invento corpore ejus,
venerunt, dicentes se etiam
visionem _angelorum vidisse, qui dicunt eum vivere.
Et_abierunt quidam ex nostris ad monumentum, et ita
invenerunt, sicut mulieres
dixerunt; ipsum vero non
invenerunt. Et ipse dixit ad
eos: O stulti, et tardi corde
ad credendum in omnibus,
qua locuti sunt propheta |
Nonne hazc oportuit pati
Christum, et ita_intrare in
gloriam suam? Et incipiens
a Moyse, et omnibus prophetis, interpretabatur illis in
omnibus Scripturis, quz de
ipso erant. Et appropinquaverunt castello, quo_ ibanf
et ipse se finxit longius ire.
Et coegerunt illum, dicentes: Mane nobiscum, quoniam advesperascit, et inclinata est jam dies. Etintravit
cumillis. Etfactum
est, dum
recumberet cum eis, accepit
panem, et benedixit, ac
fregit, et porrigebat illis. Et
aperti- sunt oculi eorum, et
cognoverunt eum: et ipse
evanuit ex oculis eorum. _Et
dixerunt ad invicem: Nonne cor_nostrum ardens erat
in nobis, dum loqueretur in
via et_aperiret nobis Scripturas? Et surgentes cadem
ora regressi sunt in Jeru-

MASS

187

work and word before God
and all the people. And how
our chief priests and princes
delivered him to be condemned
to death, and crucified him.
But we hoped that it was he
that should have redeemed
Isracl: and now besides all
this, to-day is the third day
since these things were done.
Yea, and certain women also
of our company affrighted us,
who before it was light were
at the
sepulchre. And not
finding his
body, came, saying
that they had also seen a
vision of angels, who say that
he is alive. And some of our
people went to the sepulchre:
and found it so as the women
had said, but him they found
not. Then he said to them:
O foolish, and slow of heart to
believe in all things which the
prophets have spoken. Ought
not Christ to have suffered
these things, and so to enter
into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, he expounded to
them in all the Scriptures
the things that were concerning him. And they drew nigh
to the town whither they were
going: and he made as though
he would go farther. _But they
constrained him, saying: Stay
with us, because it is towards
evening, and the day is now far
spent. And he went in with
them. And it came to pass,
whilst he was at_table with
them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to
them. And their eyes were
opened, and they knew him:
and he vanished out of their
sight. And they said one to the
other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in

188
PASCHAL TIME
salem: et invenerunt congre- the way,

gatos undecim, et eos, qui
cum_ illis erant, dicentes:
Quod surrexit Dominus vere,
et apparuit Simoni. Et ipsi
narabant que gesta erant
in via: et quomodo cognoverunt eum in fractione panis.

and opened to us the
Scriptures ? _And rising up the
same hour they went back to
Jerusalem: and they found the
eleven gathered together, and
those that were with them, saying, the Lord is risen indeed,
and hath appeared to Simon.
‘And they told what things were
done in the way: and how they
knew him in the breaking of
bread.

Let us attentively consider these three travellers on
the road to Emmaus, and go with them in spirit and affection. Two of them are frail men like ourselves, who are
afraid

of suffering;

the

Cross has

disconcerted

them;

they cannot persevere in the faith, unless they find it
brings them glory and success. O foolish and slow of
heart | says the third: ought not Christ to have suffered,
and so lo enter into his glory > Hitherto, we ourselves
have been like these two disciples. Our sentiments have
been more those of the Jew than of the Christian.. Hence
our love of earthly things, which has made us heedless of
such as are heavenly, and has thereby exposed us to sin.
‘We cannot, for the time to come, be thus minded.

The

glorious Resurrection of our Jesus eloquently teaches us
how to look upon the crosses sent us by God.
However

great may be our future trials, we are not likely to be
nailed to a cross, between two thieves.

It is what the

Son of God had to undergo: but did the sufferings of
the Friday mar the kingly splendour of the Sunday’s
triumph ? Nay, is not his present glory redoubled by
his past humiliations ? Therefore let us not be cowards when our time for
sacrifice comes; let us think of the eternal reward that is
to follow. These two disciples did not know that it was
Jesus who was s
ing to them; and yet he no sooner
explained to them the plan of God’s wisdom and goodness, than they understood the mystery of suffering.
Their hearts burned within them at hearing him explain
how the cross leads to the crown; and had he not held

EASTER

MONDAY:

MASS

189

their eyes that they should not know him, they: would have

discovered from his words that their instructor was Jesus.

So will it be with us, if we will allow him to speak to us.

‘We shall understand how ‘ the disciple is not above the

Master.”t Let us, this Easter, delight in gazing at the
resplendent glory of our risen Lord, and we shall exclaim
with the Apostle: No ! * the sufferings of this time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall
be revealed in us.’?
Now that the efforts made by the Christian for his
conversion are being recompensed with the honour of
approaching the holy banquet clothed in the nuptial garment, there is another consideration that forces itself u;

our attention from the reading of to-day’s Gospel.

It

was during the breaking of the bread that the eyes of the
two disciples were opened to recognize their Master.
The
sacred Food which we receive, and whose whole virtue

comes from the word of Christ, gives light to our souls,
and enables them to see what before was hidden.
Yes,

this is the effect produced in us by the divine mystery of
our Pasch, provided we be of the number of those who are

thus described by the pious author of the Imitation of
Chyrist : * They truly know their Lord in the breaking of

bread, whose heart burneth so mightily within them from
Jesus’ walking with them.” Let us, therefore, give ourselves unreservedly to our risen Jesus. We belong to
him now more than ever, not only because of his having
died, but also for his having risen for us. Let us imitate
the disciples of Emmaus, and, like them, become faith-

ful, joyful, and eager to show forth by our conduct that
‘ newness of life * of which the Apostle speaks,* and which
alone befits us, seeing that Christ has so loved us as to
wish his own Resurrection to be ours also.
The reason for the choice of this Gospel for to-day is
that the Station is held in the basilica of St Peter. St
Luke here tells us that the two disciples found the

Apostles already made cognizant of the Resurrection of

1St Matt. x 24.
* Book iv, ch. xiv.

* Rom. viii 18
¢ Rom. vi 4.

190

PASCHAL TIME

their Master: He hath, said they, appeared to Simon! We
spoke yesterday of the favour thus shown to the prince
of the Apostles, which the Roman Church so justly commemorates in to-day’s Office.

The Offertory consists of a text from the holy Gospel,

referring to the circumstances of our Lord’s Resurrection.
OFFERTORY

Angelus Domini_descen- _ An angel of the Lord
dit de colo, et dixit mu- down from heaven, and
lieribus: Quem quaritis sur- to the women: He whom
rexit sicut dixit, alleluia.
seek s tisen, as be told
eluia.

came
said
you
you,

In the Secret, the Church prays that the Paschal Sacra-

ment may be to her children a food nourishing them to
immortality, and may unite them as members to their
divine Head, not only for time, but even for eternity.
SECRET

Suscipe, quesumus Domine, preces populi tui cum
oblationibus bostiarum: ut
paschalibus initiata mysteriis, ad mternitatis nobis
medelam, te_operante, proficiant. Per Dominum.

Receive, O Lord, we beseech thee, the prayers of thy
people, together with the of:
ferings of these hosts: that
what is consecrated by these
Paschal mysteries may, by
the help of thy grace, avail us
to eternal life. Through, etc.

During the Communion, the Church reminds the faith-

ful of the visit paid by the Saviour, after his Resurrection,
to St Peter. The faith of the Resurrection is the faith of
Peter, and the faith of Peter is the foundation of the
Church, and the bond of Catholic unity.
COMMUNION

Surrexit Dominus, et apThe Lord hath risen, and
paruit Petro, alleluia.
appeared to Peter, alleluia.
In the Postcommunion, the Church again prays that
her children, who have been fellow-guests at the feast of
the Lamb,

may have that spirit of concord which should

EASTER

MONDAY:

191

VESPERS

reign among the members of one and the same family,
whose union has been again cemented by this year’s
Pasch.
POSTCOMMUNION

Spiritum nobis, Domine,
tuz
charitatis
infunde:
ut
quos Sacramentis _paschalibus satiasti, tua facias pietate concordes. Per Dominum.

Pour forth on us, O Lord, the
spirit of thy love; that those
whom thou hast filled with the
Paschal Sacrament may by
thy goodness live in perfect
concord. Through, etc.

VESPERS
The Vespers are the same as yesterday, with the exception of the Magnificat Antiphon and the Collect.
ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

ANT. Qui sunt hi sermoANT. What are_these disnes quos confertis ad_invi- courses that ye hold one with
cem ambulantes et estis tri- another, and aresad? Alleluia.
stes? Alleluia.
OREMUS.

Deus, qui _solemnitate
paschali mundo remedia
contulisti:
populum tuum,
quasumus, ceelesti dono prosequere; ut et perfectam libertatem consequi_mereatur,
et ad vitam proficiat sempiternam. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY.

0 God, who by the mystery
of the Paschal solemnity hast
bestowed remedies on the
world; continue, we beseech
thee, ‘thy heavenly blessings

on ti

le, that

they may

Geserve
o
‘obtain
perfect
Lb.
erty, and advance towards
eternal life. Through, etc.

Let us glorify the Son of God for having, on this the
second day of the creation, made the firmament, and

divided the waters that were under from those that were
above it.

The holy Fathers have, in commenting these

mysterious words, preferred the spiritual to the material
sense. Here we recognize the powerful hand of God,
who

strengthened

librium between

his work, and established

an

equi-

those elements which lay confounded

: 192

PASCHAL

TIME

together in chaos. The Mozarabic Liturgy gives us the
following beautiful prayer, wherewith to praise our
Creator in this portion of his work:
CAPITULA

Christe Deus noster, qui

secundo

formans,
tum

die

quasi

firmamentum

Scripturarum

solidamenin

Eccle-

sia preparas, quo coelestes
populos ‘Angelorum ab inirmitate
inferiorum
hominum, quasi aquas ab aquis,
discernere voluisti: ~ quique
duo testamenta constituens,
figuram veteris sacrificii per
testamentum novum immo-

latione tui corporis complevisti;
da
nobis,
ut intellectu prudentiz angelicis
Potestatibus, quasi aquis superioribus sociemur,
et semper ad superna tendamus:
qualiter
ita solidamentum
utriusque legis in corde mostro prepolieat, ut resurrectionis tum potentia ad
gaudia nos pertrahat infinita.

O Christ, our God, who, by
creating the firmament on the
second day, didst prefigure the
solidity of the Scriptures on
which” rests thy Church; and
who, by separation of the
waters from the waters, didst
designate the separation of the
heavenly choirs of angels from
man, the weak and inferior
creation: O thou, the Author
of the two Testaments, who
didst fulfl the figure of the
ancient sacrifice by the new
covenant of the immolation of
thy Body: grant that by understanding and _wisdom we
may be associated to the angelic powers, as to the waters
that are above us, and may ever
tend to heavenly things. May
the solidity of the two laws
be so fixed in our hearts, that
the power of thy Resurrection
may lead us to infinite joy.

Let us close the day with two Prefaces on the mystery

of the Resurrection. The first is the one used by the
Ambrosian Liturgy on Easter Sunday.
PREFACE

Vere quia dignum et justum est, zquum et salutare,
nos tibi, sancte Deus omniotens, ' gratias agere, nos
evotas laudes referre, Pater
inclyte, omnium Auctor et
Conditor, Quia, cum Dominus esset majestatis Christus
Jesus Filius tuus, ob liberationem humani generis cru-

It is truly meet and just,
right and available to_salvation, that we should give
thanks and devout praise to
thee, O holy and almighty
God, adorable Father, Author
and Creator of all things! for
that Christ Jesus, thy Son,
though the Lord of majesty,
did deign to suffer the Cross, for

EASTER

cem subire dignatus est.
Quem dudum Abraham prafigurabat in filio, turba mosaica immaculati agni immolatione signabat. Ipse est
enim, quem sacra tuba cecinerat prophetarum: qui omnium peccata portaret, aboleret
et crimina. Hoc est illud
Pascha, Christi nobilitatum
cruore, in quo fidelis populus
pracipua devotione exsultat.
O mysterium gratia plenum |
O ineffabile dvini imuneris
sacramentum | O solemnitatum omnium honoranda solemnitas | In qua, ut servos
redimeret, mortalibus se prabuit occidendum. Quam utique beata mors, qua mortis
nodos resolvit!
Jam nunc
sentiat se tartareus princeps
attritum: et nos de profundi
labe educti ad cceleste regnum
conscendisse gratulemur.

MONDAY

193

the redemption of mankind.
It was this that Abraham,
so_many ages past, prefigured
in his son; it was this that the
Mosaic people typified by the
immolation of a spotless lamb.
‘This is he of whom sang the holy
prophets, who was to bear upon
him the sins of all men, and wij
away their crimes. This is
Pasch, ennobled by the Blood
of Christ, which_ makes the
faithful exult with especial
devotion. O mystery full of
grace| O ineffable mystery of
God’s munificence | O ever to
be honoured feast of feasts!
whereon Christ gave himself
to men that they might slay
him, and this that he might
ransom slaves. O truly blessed
death, which loosed the bonds
of death | Now let the prince
of hell feel that he is crushed;
now let us, who have been
snatched from the abyss, rejoice
that we have been exalted to
the kingdom of heaven.

The following Preface is the one used by the ancient
Church of Gaul in celebrating the mystery of our Paschal
Lamb:
IMMOLATIO

Dignum et justum est,
nos tibi gratias agere, omniotens sempiterne Deus, per
esum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nostrum. Per
quem humanum genus vivie
cans, Pascha etiam per
Moysen et Aaron famulos tuos
agni immolatione jussisti celebrari: consequentibus temporibus usque ad adventum
Domini nostri Jesu Christi
(qui sicut agnus ad victimam
ductus est) eamdem consueudinem in memoriam ob-

It is right and just that we
give thanks to thee, O almighty
and eternal God, through Jesus
Christ thy Son, our Lord; by
whom thou gavest life to mankind, and wouldst have thy
servants Moses and Aaron celebrate the Pasch by the sacrifice of a lamb. This same
tite thou commandedst to be
observed and remembered in
ater times, even to the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
was led like a lamb to the
slaughter. He is the spotless
3

194

servare

PASCHAL
przcepisti.

Ipse

est

Agnus immaculatus, qui prioris populi prima Pascha in
ZEgypto fuerat immolatus.
Ipse est aries in verticem
montis excelsi de vepre prolatus, sacrificio destinatus,
Ipse est vitulus saginatus, qui
in tabernaculo patris nostri
Abrahz propter hospites est
victimatus. Cujus Passionem
et Resurrectionem celebramus, cujus et adventum speramus,

TIME

Lamb, that was slain by God's
first people, when they kept
e
t.
their gnt Pasch in E;
is the ram taken from the
thorns on the top of a high
mountain, destined for sacrifice. He is the fatted calf,
slain under the tent of our
father Abrabam, that it might
be served up to his_guests.
We celebrate his Passion and
Resurrection; we look forward
with hope to his last coming.

And now let us warm our hearts to the Paschal mystery
by this admirable sequence of Adam of Saint-Victor:
SEQUENCE

Salve, dies dierum gloria,
Dies felix Christi victoria,
Dies digna jugi lztitia,
Dies prima |
Lux divina cacis irradiat,
In qua_ Christus infernum
spoliat,
Mortem vincit et reconciliat
Summis ima.
Sempiterni regis sententia
Sub peccato conclusit omnia,
Ut infirmis superna gratia
Subveniret.
Dei virtus et sapientia
Temperavit iram clementia,
Cum jam mundus in pracipitia
Totus iret.
Insultabat nostra miserie
Vetus hostis, auctor maliti,
Quia nulla spes erat veniz
De peccatis.
Desperante mundo remedium,
Dum_tenerent cuncta silentium,
Deus Pater emisit Filium
Desperatis.

Hail, thou day of days!
happy day of Jesus' victory |
day worthy of ceaseless
joy | O
first of days |
It was on this day that the
divine light gladdened the blind
with its brightness: that Christ
robbed hell of its spoils, conquered death, and made peace
between heaven and earth.
The sentence of the eternal
King concluded all under sin,
that the weak might be made
strong by heavenly grace.
And when the whole world
was going headlong to the
abyss, the power and wisdom
of God softened his anger by
his mercy.
The old enemy, the author of
sin, insulted us in our misery,
for that there was no hope left
us of the pardon of our sins.
The world despaired of a
remedy: when lo! whilst all
things were in quiet silence,
God_ the Father sent his Son
to them that had no hope.

EASTER

Prado vorax, monstrum
tartareum,
Camem videns, nec cavens
Iaqueum,
In latentem ruens aculenm
Aduncatur.
Dignitatis prime conditio
Reformatur nobis in Filio,
Cujus nova nos resurrectio
Consolatur.
Resurrexit liberab inferis
Restaurator humani generis,
Ovem suam reportans husuperna.
Angelorum pax fit et hominum;
Plenitudo succrescit ordiDum:
Triumphantem laus decet
Dominum,
Laus zterna.
Harmonia ceelestis patriz
Vox concordet matris Ecclesiz;
Alleluia frequentet hodie
Plebs fidelis.
Triumphato mortis impeTio,

Triumphali fruamur gaudio:
In terra pax, et jubilatio
Sit in'ceelis | Amen.

MONDAY

195

The greedy thief, the hellish monster saw the’ Flesh, but

The ook, ad was congh

nof

-

e

snare:

he

at

We were restored to our
former dignity by Jesus, whose
Resurrection now gladdens us.
He, the restorer of mankind, rose again free from the
dead; he carried his sheep, on
his shoulders, back to heaven.
Peace is made between angels and men; the heavenly
ranks are filed up: praise,
eternal praise is due to our
triumphant Lord.

Let the voice of mother
Church blend in barmony with
that of heaven; let the faithful sing now, without ceasing,
their
Alleluia.
A ‘triumph has been won
over the power of death; let
us rejoice in the triumph.
Peace on_ecarth, and jubiles
inbeaven! Amen.

PASCHAL

196

Gasfer

TIME

Tuesday

Hazc dies quam fecit DoThis is the day which the
minus; exsultemus et lete- Lord hath made: let us be
mur in ea.
glad and rejoice therein.
UR Pasch is the Lamb, and we meditated upon the
mystery yesterday: now let us attentively consider

those words of sacred Scripture, where, speaking of the
Pasch, it says: ‘ It is the Phase, that is, the passage of
the Lord.” God himself adds these words: ‘ I will pass
through the land of Egypt that night, and will kill every
first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and

against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements.’*

So that the Pasch is a day of judgement, a day of terrible

justice upon the enemies of God; but for that very reason,
it is a day of deliverance for Israel.

but his immolation

is the signal

The lamb is slain;

of redemption

to the

holy people of the Lord.
The people of Israel are slaves to the cruel Pharaoh.

Their bondage is the heaviest that can be.

Their male

children are to be put to death. The race of Abraham,
on which repose the promises of the world’s salvation,
is doomed.
It is time for God to interpose: the Lion of
the tribe of Juda,

he whom

none can resist, must show

himself.
But in this, the Israelites are a type of another and a
far more numerous people, the whole human race; and

it is the slave of Satan, a tyrant worse than Pharaoh.

Its bondage is at its height. It is debased by the vilest
idolatry. It has made every base thing its god; and the

God that made

all things is ignored or blasphemed.

With a few rare exceptions out of each generation, men

are the victims of hell.

Has God’s creation of man, then,
3 Exod.
xii 1z

been a failure?

EASTER TUESDAY
197
Not so. The time is come for him to

show the might of his arm: he will pass over the earth,

and save mankind.
Jesus,

the

true

Israelite,

from heaven, he too is made

the true Man

a captive.

come

down

His enemies

have prevailed against him, and his bleeding, lifeless
Body has been laid in the tomb. The murderers of the
just One have even fixed a seal upon the sepulchre,
and set a guard to watch it. Here again the Lord
must pass, and confound his enemies by his triumphant
passage.
In that Egypt of old, each Israelite family was commanded to slay and eat the Paschal Lamb.
Then at
midnight the Lord passed, as he had promised, over this
land of bondage and crime.
The destroying angel
followed, slaying with his sword the first-born of the
Egyptians, ‘ from the first-born of Pharach, who sat on
his throne, unto the first-born of the captive woman
that was in prison, and all the first-born of the cattle.”*
A cry of mourning resounded through ldesraim: but God
is just, and his people was made free !
The same victory was gained in the Resurrection
which now gladdens us. The midnight was over, and
the last shades of darkness were fleeing from before the
rising light: it was then that our Lord passed through
the sealed stone of his tomb, unperceived by his guards.
His Resurrection was a stroke of death to his first-born
people, who had refused to receive him as their Messias,

or to ‘know the time of their visitation.”* The Synagogue was hard of heart, like Pharaoh; it would fain have
held captive him of whom the prophet had said, that he
would be ‘ free among

the dead.”*

Hereupon

a cry of

impotent rage was heard in Jerusalem: but God is just,
and Jesus made himself free !

And oh! what a happiness was this passage of our
Lord for the human race! He had adopted us as his

brethren, and loved us too tenderly to leave us slaves of

Satan: therefore, he would have his own Resurrection
+ Exod. xii 29.
* St Luke xix 4.
* Ps. lxxxvii 6.

TIME

PASCHAL

198

be ours too, and give us light and liberty.

The first-

the

The

born of Satan were routed by such a victory; the power
Yet a little while, and the altars of
of hell was broken.
the false gods shall everywhere be destroyed; yet a little
while, and man, regenerated by the preaching of the
Apostles, shall acknowledge his Creator and abjure his
idols: for this is the day which the Lord hath made: ‘it
is the Phase, that is, the passage of the Lord ’ !
But observe how the two mysteries—the Lamb and

Passover—are

united

in our Pasch.

Lord

passes, and bids the destroying angel slay the first-born
in every house, the entrance of which is not marked with
the blood of thelamb.

This is the shield of protection;

where it is, there divine justice passes by and spares.
Pharaoh and his people are not signed with the blood of
the lamb: yet have they witnessed the most extraordinary miracles, and suffered unheard-of chastisements.
All this should have taught them that the God of Israel
is not like their own gods, which have no power; but their
heart is hard as stone, and neither the works nor the

words of Moses have been able to soften it. Therefore
does God strike them and deliver his people.
But this very people, this Israel, ungratefully turns
against his deliverer; he is content with the types of
the good things promised; he will have no other lamb
but the material one.
In vain do the prophets tell him
that ‘a Lamb is to be sent forth, who shall be King of
the earth;

mount

that

of the

he shall

daughter

come

from

of Sion.”*

the desert

to the

Israel refuses to

acknowledge this Lamb as his Messias; he persecutes him

and puts him to death; and persists in putting all his
confidence in the blood of victims that have no longer
the power to propitiate the anger of God.
How terrible
will be the Passage of the Lord over Jerusalem, when
the sword of the Roman legions shall destroy a whole
people !
Satan, too, and his wicked angels, had scoffed at this
Lamb; they had despised him, as being too meek and
2 Isaxvin

EASTER

TUESDAY

99
humble to be dreaded; and when they saw him shedding
his Blood on the Cross, a shout of exultation rang through
the regions of hell. But what was their dismay, when
they saw this Lamb descending like a lion into limbo,
and setting free from their bondage the countless
prisoners of the four thousand previous years ? and after
this returning to our earth, and inviting all mankind to
receive the liberty of the glory of the children of
God ’?*
O Jesus! how terrible is thy Passover to thine
enemies ! but how glorious for them that serve thee!
The people of Israel feared it not, because their houses
were marked with the blood of the figurative lamb.
‘We are more favoured than they: our Lamb is the Lamb
of God, and thy Blood is signed, not upon our dwellings,
but upon

our souls.

Thy

prophet

foretold

the

great

mystery when he said that on the day of thy vengeance
upon Jerusalem, they would be spared whose foreheads
should be marked with the Tau.® Israel despised the
prophecy, which is our joy. The Tau is the sign of thy
Cross,

dear Jesus!

It is thy Cross

that

shields,

and

protects, and gladdens us in this Pasch of thy Passover,

wherein thy anger is all for thine enemies,
blessings all for us !

and thy

At Rome, the Station for to-day is in the basilica
of St Paul. The church is impatient to lead her

white-robed troop of neophytes to the Apostle of the
gentiles.
Though he is not the foundation of the
Church, yet is he companion of Peter’s labours in Rome,
his fellow- -martyr, and the preacher of the Gospel to
the gentiles.
As he says of himself,® he has laboured
to form children in God—who could tell the number he
has given to Christ ?
How must he rejoice to see these
newly made Christians approach his sacred shrine, there

to receive instruction from his epistles, wherein he still

speaks to all generations !
* Rom. viii 21.

* Ezech. ix 6.

* Gal.iv 19.

200

PASCHAL TIME
MASS

The Introit, taken from the Book of Ecclesiasticus,

celebrates the sublime wisdom of St Paul, who is the ever

pure source whereat the people of God drink instruction
and strength, and so prepare their souls for eternal life.
INTROIT

Aqua_sapienti@
_potavit
eos, alleluia: firmabitur in
illis, et non flectetur, alleluia: et exaltabit eos in @ternum. Alleluia, alleluia.

water of wisdom to drink,
alleluia: this _wisdom shall
be strengthened in them, and
shall_not be moved, alleluia:

Ps. Confitemini Domino,
et invocate Nomen eju
annuntiate inter gentes opera ejus. ¥. Gloria Patri.
Aqua sapientiz.

Ps. Praise the Lord, and
call upon his Name: declare
his deeds among the gentiles.
Y. Glory, etc. He hath given, etc.

He

hath

given

them

and it shall raise them
ever.
Alleluia, alleluia.

up

the

for

In the Collect, the Church gives thanks to God for
rendering her fruitful, and thus giving her, every Easter,
a mother’s joy. She then prays for her new children,

that they may have the grace to persevere in the imitation of their risen Lord.
COLLECT

Deus, qui Ecclesiam tuam
O God, who by a new innovo semper feetu multipli- creasc dost continually enlarge
cas: concede famulis tuis, thy Church: grant that thy
ut sacramentum vivendo te- servants may keep up, by their
neant, quod fide perceperunt. wmanner of living, the mystery
Per Dominum.
they have received by believing.

Lectio

EPISTLE

Through, etc.

Actuum Apostolo- Lesson from the Acts of the
rum.
Apostles.
Cap. XIII.
Ch. XIII.
In diebus illis: Surgens _ In those days: Paul standPaulus, et manu silentium ing up, and with his hand
indicens, ait: Viri fratres, bespeaking silence, said: Men,

EASTER

TUESDAY:

Glii generis Abraham, et
qui_in vobis timent Deum,
vobis verbum_salutis hujus
missum est. Qui enim habitabant Jerusalem, et principes ejus ignorantes Jesum,
et voces prophetarum, quz
per omne sabbatum leguntur,
judicantes impleverunt, et
nullam causam mortis invenientes in_eo, petierunt a
Pilato, ut interficerent eum.
Cumgque consummassent omnia qua de eo scripta erant,
deponentes cum de ligno,
posuerunt_eum in monumento. Deus vero suscitavit eum
a mortuis tertia
die; qui visus est per dies
multos his, qui simul_ascenderant cum eo_de Galilza in
Jerusalem: qui usque nunc
sunt testes ejus ad plebem.
Et nos vobis annuntiamus
eam, que ad patres nostros
repromissio facta est: quoniam hanc Deus adimplevit
filiis nostris, resuscitans Jesum Christum Dominum hostrum.

MASS

201

brethren, children of the stock
of Abraham, and whosoever
among you fear God, to you
the word of this salvation is
sent. For they that inhabited
Jerusalers, and _the rulers
thereof, not knowing him nor
the voices of the prophets
which are read every Sabbath,
judging him have fulfilled
them, and finding no cause of
death in him, they desired of
Pilate that they might kill
him. And when they had
fulfilled all things that were
written of him, taking him
down from the tree, they laid
him in a sepulchre. But God
raised him up from the dead
the third day: who was seen
for many days by them who
came up
with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who to this
present” are his witnesses to
the people. And we declare
unto you, that the promise
which was made to our fathers,
this same God hath fulfilled
to our children, raising up
Jesus Christ our Lord.

This discourse, which was made at Antioch in Pisidia,

in the synagogue, shows us that the Doctor of the gentiles
followed the same method in his instructions as did the

prince of the Apostles.

The great subject of their preach-

ing was the Resurrection of Christ; for it is the funda-

mental truth, it is the fact above all others, which proves

the divine mission of the Son of God upon earth.

It is

not enough to believe in Christ crucified; we must also
believe in Christ risen. The Resurrection is not only
the indisputable fact on which rests the whole certainty

of our faith, but it is also the dogma which energizes
the whole Christian world. Nothing ever happened
on this earth which produced a like impression.
See
how throughout the whole world it is now celebrated
by millions of men of every race and nation ! Nineteen

PASCHAL

202

TIME

centuries have passed away since the relics of St Paul
were first laid in this tomb on the Ostian Way: during
that time, how many events have happened which in
their time were looked on as of momentous importance,
and are now completely forgotten?
For more than
two hundred years the storm of persecution was almost
ceaseless over Christian Rome; it even became necessary,
in the third century, to remove these sacred remains,
and hide them, for a time, in the catacombs. After
this

came

Constantine,

who

built

this

basilica,

and

erected the triumphal arch near the altar, under which

lies the body of the Apostle. Since then, how many
changes have taken place in the world! Dynasties,
empires,

forms

of

government,

have

succeeded

each

other, and only one institution has stood unchanged—

the Church

Every
Ty year, during these fifteen centuries,

she has gone to the basilica of St Paul, and there, near
his tomb, has read this discourse in which the Apostle
proclaimed the Resurrection of Christ to the Jews. Seeing such perpetuity, such unchangeableness, even in

things like this, we cannot help exclalmmg Oh! truly,
Christ is risen ! He is the Son of God ! for man could
never have given duration to any work of his hand.
Our
Pasch alone tells us who Jesus is. Let us learn from
the circumstance suggested to us by to-day’s Epistle how
the dazzling beauty of ourrisen Jesus is reflected even in
the minutest details of our happy worship, the Liturgy.

GRADUAL

Hazc dies quam fecit DoThis is the day which the
minus: _exsultemus, et le- Lord hath made: let us be
temur in ea.
glad and rejoice therein.
¥. Dicant nunc, qui reY. Let them now say so,
dempti sunt a Domino, quos that have been redeemed by
redemit de manu inimici, the Lord from the hand of the
et de regionibus congrega- enemy: and he hath gathered
vit eos.
them out of the countries.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. Surrexit Dominus de
¥. The Lord hath risen from
sepulchro, qui pro nobis pe- the tomb, who for our sake
pendit in ligno.
was nailed to the Cross.
The Sequence, Victime Paschali, p. 145.

EASTER

TUESDAY:

MASS

203

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii Sequel of the holy Gospel
secundum Lucam.
according to Luke.
Cap. XXIV.
Ch. XXIV.
In fillo tempore: Stetit
At that time: Jesus stood
Jesus in medio discipulorum in the midst of his disciples,
Suorum, et dixit eis: Pax vo- and said to them: Peace be to
bis: ego sum, nolite timere. you: it is I, fear not. But they
being troubled and frighted,
Conturbati vero, et
conter1iti, existimabant se spiritum supposed they saw a spirit:
videre. Et dixit eis: Quid And he said to them:
Why
turbati estis, et cogitationes are you troubled, and why do
ascendunt in corda vestra ? thoughts arise in your hearts ?
Videte manus meas, et pe- See my hands and my feet, that
des, quia ego ipse sum: pal- it is 1 myself; handle me and
pate et videte: quia spinitus see: for a spirit hath not flesh
carnem et ossa non habet, and bones, as you see me to
sicut me videtis habere. Et have. And when he had said
cum hoc dixisset, ostendit this, he showed them his hands
eis manus et pedes. Adhuc and his feet. But while they
autem illis non credentibus, yet believed not, and wondered
et mirantibus prz gaudio, for joy, he said: Have you here
Gixit:
Habetis hic shquid, anything to eat ? And they ofquod manducetur ? At _illi fered him a piece of broiled
obtulerunt ei partem piscis fish, and a honey-comb. And
assi, et favum mells. Et when he had eaten before them,
cum manducasset coram eis, taking the remains he gave to
sumens_reliquias, dedit eis. them. And he said to them:
Et dixit ad eos: Hzc sunt These are the words which
verba, que locutus sum ad I spoke to you while I was yet
vos, cum adhuc essem vobis- with you, that all things must
cum, quoniam necesse _est needs” be fulfilled, which are
impleri omnia, qua scripta written in the law of Moses,
sunt in lege Moysi, et pro- and in the prophets, and in the
hetis, et Psalmis de me. Psalms, concerning me. Then
unc_aperuit illis sensum ut he opened their understanding,
intelligerent Scripturas. Et that they might understand the
dixit eis: quoniam sic scri- Scriptures. And he said to
plum est, et sic_oportebat them: thus it is written, and
hristum pati, et resurgere a thus it behoved Christ to suf‘mortuis tertia’ die: et pradi- fer, and to rise again from the
cari in nomine ejus peeniten- dead the third day: and that
tiam et remissionem pecca- penance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name
torum in omnes gentes.
unto all nations.
Jesus shows himself to all his Apostles, on the evening
of the day on which he rose from the grave; and he greets

PASCHAL

204

TIME

them with the wish of peace. He wishes the same to us,
during this feast of the Pasch. He desires to establish
peace among us—peace between man and God, peace
in the conscience of the repentant sinner, peace between
man and man by the forgiveness of injuries. Let us
welcome this wish of our risen Lord, and jealously preserve the peace he thus deigns to bring us.
At his
birth in Bethlehem, the angels announced this peace
to men

brings

of good

it to us,

will; but now it is Jesus himself who

for he has accomplished

his work

of

pacification by dying for us on the Cross. The first
word he addresses to his Apostles, and through them
Let us lovingly accept the blessing,
to us, is Peace!
and show ourselves to be, in all things, children of

peace.
The

serves

conduct

our

of the

attention.

Apostles,

They

on this occasion,

believe

in their

de-

Lord’s

Resurrection; they eagerly announced the great event
to the two disciples of Emmaus: but how weak is their
faith | They are troubled and frighted at Jesus’ sudden
apparition; and when he graciously permits them to
handle him, they are overpowered with joy, and yet
there is a certain inexplicable doubt still lingering in
their minds. Our Lord has to condescend even to eat in
their presence, in order fully to convince them that it
is really himself and not a phantom.
What a strange
inconsistency there is in all this! Had they not already
believed and confessed the Resurrection of their Master,
before receiving this visit? We have a lesson to learn
here: it is, that there are some people who believe, but
their faith is so weak that the slightest shock would
endanger it; they say they have faith, but it is of the
most superficial kind. And yet, without a lively and
vigorous faith, what can we do in the battle we have
to be incessantly waging

against the devil, the world,

and our own selves ? He who wrestles with an enemy
is desirous to have a sure footing; if he stand on slippery
ground, he is sure to be thrown. Nothing is so common
nowadays

as

unstable

faith,

which

believes

as

long

EASTER

TUESDAY:

MASS

205

as there is nothing to try it: but let it be put to the test,
and it gives way.
One principal cause of this weakness of faith is that
subtle

naturalism,

which

now

fills the atmosphere

in

which we live, and which it is so difficult not to imbibe.
Let us earnestly pray for an invincible and supernatural
faith, which may be the ruling principle of our conduct,
which may never flinch, and may triumph over both our
internal and external enemies. Thus shall we be able
to apply to ourselves those words of the Apostle St
John: ‘ This is the victory which overcometh the world,
our faith.”*
In the

words

Offertory,

the Church

of the royal prophet,

speaks

to us, in the

of the fountains of water

which sprang up at the thunder of God’s bidding. This
voice of the Most High was made known to the earth by
the preaching of the Apostles, and, in a special manner,
by that of St Paul. The fountains are the baptismal
fonts, from which our neophytes came regenerated unto

life everlasting.

OFFERTORY

Intonuit de celo Dominus,
et Altissimus dedit vocem
suam: et apparuerunt fontes aquarum, alleluia.
The

Church

prays,

The Lord thundered from
heaven, and the Most High
sent forth his voice: and the
fountains of waters appeared,
alleluia.

in the Secret,

that the Sacrifice

she is about to offer may aid us to pass safely on to that
infinite glory to which Baptism first opened to us the
way.
SECRET

Suscipe, Domine, fidelium
preces cum oblationibus hostiarum: ut per hac pi@ devotionis officia, ad celestem
gloriam transeamus. - Per Dominum.
11 St

_ Receive, O Lord, we beseech
thee, the prayers of the faith~
ful, together with these oblations: that by these duties of
pisty they may pass to cternal
ife.” Through, etc.
Joba
v 4

PASCHAL

206

TIME

In the Communion Anthem we have St Paul himself
speaking to the neophytes, and telling them what manner
of life they must henceforth lead, in order to resemble

their divine model, their risen Jesus.

COMMUNION

Si consurrexistis cum
Christo, qua sursum sunt
uerite, ubi Christus est in
extera Dei sedens, alleluia:
uz sursum sunt sapite,
eluia.

If you be risen with Christ,
seek the things that are above,
where Christ is sitting at the
right hand of God, alleluia;
mind the things ‘that are
above, alleluia.

The Church makes the above words of the Apostle
the subject of her concluding Prayer: she begs that her
new children, who have just partaken of the Paschal
Mystery, may persevere in the new life of which this
holy Sacrament is the chief support.

POSTCOMMUNION
Concede, quasumus,
Grant, we beseech thee, O
nipotens Deus: ut paschaalmighty God, that the virtue
Jis perceptio Sacramenti,
of the Paschal Sacrament
continua in nostris menti which we have received may
bus perseveret. Per Domi- always remain in our souls.
Through, etc.
num.
VESPERS
The

Vespers

are

the

same

as on

excepting the Magnificat Antiphon,
which are as follows:
ANTIPHON

OF

ANT. Videte manus meas
et pedes meos, quia ego ij

sum.

Alleluia, alleluia.

pee

THE

Easter

Sunday,

and the Collect,

MAGNIFICAT

AxT. See my hands and my
fect, for it is T myself. AlleIuia, alleluia.

The Collect is given above, in the Mass, p. 200.
On the third day of the creation, the waters, which
covered the earth, were gathered together at the word

EASTER TUESDAY

207

of the Son of God, and"flowed into the hollows prepared

for them. The seas thus formed, the surface of the
earth became habitable for those beings that were soon
to be called forth from nothingness. On this day, then,
the angels first beheld

a temporary sojourn.

the place where we are to have

The time will come when

this

very Son of God, who now separates the waters from the

earth, will himself inhabit it, after having assumed our

human

nature.

rightful domain,

Let

us offer

over which,

power has been given to him.!

him

our

earth,

as

as also over heaven,

his

all

The Mozarabic breviary

gives us the following beautiful prayer, in which are
explained the mysteries hidden under the text that
describes this third day’s creation:
CAPITULA

Omnipotens Deus_ Pater,
qui_die tertio ab_infidelium
cordibus, quasi ab inferioribus salsis aquis aridam,
id est populum fontem fidei
sitientem, segregare dign:
tus es; da nobis, ut ab in
delium _laqueis _segrega
resurrectionem Filii tui praedicemus_indubii: ut qui tertio ab inferis suscitatus est
die, trina nos virtutum copulatione resuscitet: quo fide,
spe et charitate robusti, de
@terno resurrectionis mereamur munere consolari.

0 almighty God, the Father !
who on the third day didst
vouchsafe to separate the dry
land from the briny waters that
were on the earth, hereby prefiguring how, at a future time,
thou wouldst separate the people that thirsted after the fount
of faith from them that had
unbelieving hearts: grant that
we who are freed from the
fetters of unbelief may proclaim without doubting the Resurrection of thy Son. May he
that rose from the grave on the
third day give us to rise by the
union of three virtues: and that
thus made strong by faith, hope,
and charity, we may merit the
eternal happiness of the Resurrection.

Let us again borrow from the ancient Liturgies the

formulas used in the celebration of Easter. We find in
the Missal of the Gothic Church of Spain this magnificent
Preface; it is an eloquent and fervent summary of all the
grand things said by the Fathers regarding the Pasch.
+ St Matt. xxvii 18,

208

PASCHAL

TIME

ILLATIO

Dignum et justum est nos
It is meet and just that we
tibi semper cum Patre et Spi- should ever give thanks to thee,
ritu Sancto individua divini- O Lord Jesus Christ, who
tate regnanti gratias agere, reignest with the Father and
Domine Jesu Christe. Qui the Holy Ghost in one undinos tam admirabiliter condi- vided Godhead. Thou didst
disti, tam clementer redemi- wonderfully create, and mercisti. Non laboribus in facien- fully redeem us. In the creado fatigatus, non passionibus
in redimendo consumptus.

Fecit virtus _potentialiter
quos redemit pietas tam clementer. Totum tibi est in
veritate possibile, quia hoc
ipsum tibi, excepto humanitatis privilegio, cum Patre

tion, thou wast not fatigued
by labour; in the redemption,
thou wast not consumed by
suffering. Thy power powerfully made, thy mercy mercius. = Everyfully redeemed
thing is, indeed, possible to thee,
for whatsoever is in the Father

and the Holy Ghost is equally
in thee, who hast nought which
they have not, save the prividecet. Id est ut omnipotens lege of thy human nature.
cuncta facias facienda; ju- Therefore canst thou do whatstus, =quitate censeas judi- soever it beseemeth thee to
canda; misericors, clementer wish. As omnipotent, thou doperficias coronanda.
est what thou willest to do; as
just, thou judgest all things
with equity; as merciful, thou
crownest with clemency them
that deserve a crown.
Qui, cum solo majestatis
Though thou couldst have
terribili nutu, nostrum po- crushed our enemy by a single
tueris
look of thy dread majesty, yet
conterere
vexatorem,
et Spiritu Sancto est essentialiter coequale. Ita tamen
posse te manet, quod velle te

maluisti eum humilitatis
abjectione prosternere. Ex
hoc magis approbans nullam
majestati

tuz

contrariam

wouldst

thou

the

rather

pros-

trate him by the excess of thy
humility: hereby teaching us,
that the princes of this air have
no further power against us
save that which thy Majesty
permits, seeing that by the
weakness of our flesh thou didst
reduce to nought the haughtiness of the enemy. Verily, the

nobis subsistere _aereorum
principum tyrannidem, cum
sic nostrorum infirmitate
membrorum omnem _ inimici
ad nihilum redegeris vanitatem.
Etenim _superbus
se ingemuit gravius corru- proud one felt his fall the more,
isse, quando se elisum in that he knew it was by humisensit ab humilitate fuisse. lity he was crushed. Thus did
Atque ideo tali divina sa- divine wisdom plan the overpientia
antiqui
serpentis throw of the old and crafty
astutiam consilio v
serpent; he would have it to be
violenter addiceret, sed lega- not a violent but a legal defeat;

EASTER

liter quateretur. Utqui transessorem ¢o se jure possidere
jactabat, quem suis consentientem persuasionibus obligaverat: sic eum justo superatus
judicio redderet, cum istum
in quo suum nihil repererat occidisset. Quapropter
amisit merito reum, qui
tollentem
mundi peccata
crucis supplicio Agnum non
timuit mortificare divinum.
Disruptis igitur cruce inferni catenis legibusque solutis,
ad ceelos migrant cum Christo credentes in Christo.
Et
cruciandi permanent in inferno qui _ delectati sunt
inviscerati diabolo.
Rediit ecce post triduum
victor, ex mortuis vivus, qui
ad hoc_pro nobis est crucifixus. Innumeris captivorum
ovantium stipatur ~agminibus, qui passionis tempore
etiam discipulorum suorum
fuerat societate nudatus.
Agitatur eo resurgente tremefacta funditus terra, quo
descendente _concussa . sunt
et inferna. Cohors militum
terrenorum
coelestis regis
terribili regressu perculsa
diffugiit, et quem dudum
incluserat velut reum, jam
et ipsa terribilem victa judicem
verum
confitetur
et
Deum. Sanctorum corpora
vivificata consurgunt: hal
taculum quos_paulisper jacuerat resurgit gloriosum,
codem resuscitante a quo
anima_derelicta in inferno
non fuerat. Angeli proprio
famulantur auctori; splendificus universo mundo oritur dies.

209
and that, as Satan boasted that
man was legally his slave, because he had persnaded him to
consent to the fetters, so he
might be forced, by a just judgement, to give up his prey, when
he killed him over whom he bad
noclaim. Hence when he made
bold to put to the death of the
cross the Lamb of God, who
taketh away the sins of the
world, he deservedly lost the
guilty one. Therefore, the
‘bonds of hell being broken, and
its laws abrogated,by the Cross,
they that believe in Christ pass
with Christ to heaven; and the
remain to be tormented in hell,
who put their happiness in
making themselves the devil's
prey.
Lo Christ, after three days,
has returned conqueror and
living from the grave, for unto
this was he crucified for us.
He that during his Passion was
deprived of the company of his
disciples, is now surrounded by
a countless number of glad
captives whom he has set free.
He that made hell itself tremble when he descended, now, by
his Resurrection, makes the
earth shake to its foundations.
The soldiers of earth take to
flight at the return of heaven's
King; and him whom they
had just before guarded as a
guilty captive, they now confess
to be the terrible Judge and
true God, who_ hasconquered
them. The bodies of the saints
return to life, and rise; their
earthly tabernacle, which for
a time had lain in dust, rises
glorious with him, who permitted not the soul to abide in limbo. The angels pay court to
their Creator. A glorious day
rises upon the whole earth.
14

TUESDAY

210

PASCHAL TIME

Tripudiant _inspirato resurrectionis die, qui masstificati fuerant
passionis cjus
vulnere repentino. Agnoscit
Mater membra quz genuit.
Maria Magdalene angelo increpante resipuit, ne viventem cum mortuis quarere
debuisset. Ad monumentum
Petrus cum Johanne concurrit, recentiaque in linteaminibus _defuncti et resurgentis vestigia cernit. Latro
hristum _confessus _possessor paradisi factus est primitivus.
Impletum
est quod
dictum fuerat de Filio hominis, tot ante szcula prophetatum, ut scilicet peccatorum
pro nobis manibus traderetur:
crucifigeretur, moreretur: inferna _terribiliter
penetraret, superbos dejiceret, humiles misericorditer
cum
triumpho
a mortuis resurgeret, et cum Patre et
Spirifu Sancto omnipotentialiter cunctis dominando
regnaret.

Cujus virtutis immensitate
ermoti, etiam septem vexila regia beatorum innumeras
lucifiuarum _mittit plebium
catervas ad laudem, ac suum
quisque pio_praveniens officio locum, debitum_exsolvit,
carnem triumphantis Regis
per @vum submisseque adoTat, et glorificatis vultibus
Agnum, suasque rutilantibus
gemmis eximias prafert cum
Taude coronas. Seraphim quoque divinz sedis terribilem
thronum alarum trino tegmine velant sui famulatus, unum
te fatendo cum Patre et Spi-

Let them that mourned because of the swift and bloody
Passion, now exult with exceeding gladness on this blessed
day of the Resurrection. The
Mother recognizes the Son of
Mary Magdalen is
her womb,
rebuked by the angel, and
ceases to seck among the dead
him that is living. Peter, accompanied by John, runs to the
sepulchre, and"in the windingsheet and cloths sees the traces
of his Master, who was dead,
but now is risen. The thief
that confessed Christ to be God
is made the first possessor of
Paradise. All that was prophesied long ages before of the Son
of Man is now fulfilled; to wit,
that for our sake he would be
delivered into the hands of
sinners; that he would be crucified and put to death; that he
would descend into hell, with
awful majesty, cast down the
proud, and mercifully exalt the
humble; that with _inefiable
triumph he would rise again
from the dead, and would reign
together with the Father and
the Holy Ghost, governing all
creatures with great power.
Filled with admiration

at the

immensity of his power, the
seven standard-bearers of the
heavenly kingdom send upon
the earth countless hosts of
bright spirits to give him praise.
Each angel hastes to his post,
paying the debt of his homage,
and humbly adoring the Flesh
of the eternally triumphant
King, casts at his feet with
raise the crown of his glittering gems, The seraphim, who
with their six wings veil in
awful
the
worshi
reverent
Godhead; who, by
throne of the
their triple hymn of praise, con-

EASTER

TUESDAY

21T

ritu Sancto Deum trinz con- fess thee to be one God with
fessionis praeconio declaran- the Father and the Holy Ghost,
dum, in sede siderea perma- and acknowledge thee as the
nentem regnantemque in sw- King that reigns for ever and
cula szculorum, incessabili ever on the throne of heaven;
jugitate dicunt:
Sanmctus, they also say in ceaseless song:
Sanctus, Sanctus |
Holy, Holy, Holy |
‘We subjoin to this Mozarabic Preface a hymn taken
from the Roman-French Missal of the Middle Ages.

It was a favourite Easter hymn with the people of those
days; and though somewhat unpolished, is full of vigour.
The chant that accompanied it, and which would fatigue
any singer of modern times, is, in spite of its occasional

want of smoothness, very melodious and expressive.

SEQUENCE

Fulgens praclara
Rutilat per orbem
Hodie dies in qua
Christi lucida
Narrantur ovanter pralia.
De hoste superbo
Quem Christus triumphavit
‘pulchre,
Castra
Illius
perimens teterrima.
Infelix culpa Eva,
Qua caruimus omnes vita.
Felix proles Mariz,
Qua epulamur modo una.
Benedicta
Sit celsa
Regina illa,
Generans regem
Spoliantem tartara,
Pollentem
Jam in zthera.
Rex in 2térnum,
Suscipe benignus
Praconia nostra
Sedule tibi canentia.
Patris sedens ad dexteram,
Victor ubique,
Morte superata,
Polorum
possidens
udia.

Now shines through the
world the bright fair day,
whereon are triumphantly told
the splendid combats of Christ.
He gloriously conquered the
haughty enemy, and routed
his most wicked hosts.
Unhappy sin of Eve, whereby, we were all deprived of life |
Happy thefruit
of Mary,whereon we A1l now feed together |
Blessed be that noble Queen,
The mother of the King,
who robbed hell of its prey,
And now reigns in heaven
above.
N
O eternal King! graciously
receive the hymns we devoutly
sing to thee.
Thou

sittest

on

hand of thy Father.

the

right

Universal Conqueror | thou
didst vanquish death, and enter into the joys of heaven.

PASCHAL TIME

212

O mercy of Christ! how
O magna,
great, how sublime, how beauO celsa,
.
tiful, how sweet, how tender
0O pulchra clementia
art thou |
Christi mellifiua,
O alma.
Praise, honour and
power
Lavs tibi honorque ac
be to thee that didst lighten
virtus,
our heavy weight of old |
Qui nostram antiquam
Leviasti sarcinam.
Purchased by the Blood of
Roseo cruore
the infinitely merciful Lamb,
Agni benignissimi
the Church glitters with the
Empta,
ruby flowers of her redempFlorida
Micat hc aula.
tion,
Potenti virtute nostra
He who by his mighty
pover washed away our sias,
ui lavit facinora,
ribuit dona fulgida.
loads us with precious gifts.
Bewildered in my admiraStupens valde in memet,
Jam miror hodierna,
tion of this day’s wonders, I am
Tanta
unworthy to proclaim its great
Indignus pandere
‘mysteries.
Modo sacramenta.
Stirpe Davidica
Son of David! Child of the
Ortus de tribu Juda,
tribe of Juda ! thou didst rise
Leo potens surrexisti in in glory, 2 lion in strength.
gloria.
Agnus visus es in terra.
Thou wast seen on earth as
a gentle lamb.
Fundans olim arva:
t was
thou
that
in the
beginning didst create the
;
world.
Regna petens supera:
Thou hast ascended to the
kingdom above:
Justis reddens pramia,
And
there
thou
mercifully
In szcula
rewardest the just with the
Dignantur ovantia.
rewards of everlasting joy.
Dic impie Zabule,
Say, Satan, thou wicked spiQuid valet nunc fraus tua ? rit, what now hath thy craft
profited thee ?
Igneis nexus loris
The victor
of Christ has
A Christi victoria.

Tribus,
linguz, admira‘i
Quis audivit talia
Miracula ?
Ut mors mortem sic suRei

peraret:

tam

perciperent

talem

£

gra-

bound
fire.

thee

fast

in

fetters

of

O ye tribes and nations, be

astounded | Who

hath

of miracles like these ?

That death
uer death?

should receive
to this ?

heard

should so conThat
criminals
favour

like

un-

EASTER TUESDAY

213
O incredulous Jew! hast
Jud=a incredula,
thou
no shame, that thou canst
Cur manes adhuc invetecunda ?
continue so ?
Respice christicolas,
See how the Christians reQualiter 2t canunt inclyta joice, singing to the Redeemer
their holy hymns.
edemptori carmina.
Ergo pie Rex Christe,
Therefore, O Jesus, our
merciful King | forgive us our
Nobis laxans crimina,
ins, loosen our fotters.
Solve nexorum vincula.
Electorum agmina
Grant_that thy elect may
rise with thee to heavenly
Fac tecum resurgere
glory, and to their just merits
Ad beatam gloriam,
give recompense. Amen.
Digna rependens merita.
Amen.

PASCHAL

214

WEDNESDAY
Hazc
minus:

IN

dies quam fecit Doexsultemus et lete-

mur in ea.

TIME

EASTER

WEEK

This is the day
Lord hath made:

which the
let us be

glad and rejoice therein.

'HE Hebrew word Pasch signifies passage, and we
explained yesterday how this great day first

became sacred by reason of the Lord’s Passover.

But

there is another meaning which attaches to the word,
as we learn from the early Fathers and the Jewish
rabbins.

The

Pasch

is, moreover,

the

passage

of the

Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. These
three great facts really happened on one and the same
night: the banquet

of the lamb, the death of the first-

born of the Egyptians, and the departure from Egypt.

Let us, to-day, consider how this third figure is a further

development of our Easter mystery.
The day of Israel's setting forth from

Egypt

for

his predestined country of the Promised Land is the
most important in his whole history; but both the
departure itself, and the circumstances that attended
it, were

types

of future realities to be fulfilled in the

Christian Pasch.

The people

of God

were

delivered

from an idolatrous and tyrannical country: in our Pasch,

they who are now our neophytes have courageously
emancipated themselves from the slavish sway of Satan,

and have solemnly renounced the pomps and works
of this haughty Pharaoh.
On their road to the Promised Land, the Israelites
had to pass through a sea of water; their doing so was
a necessity, both for their protection against Pharaoh’s
army which was pursuing them, and for their entrance
into the land of milk and honey. Our neophytes, too,
after renouncing the tyrant who had enslaved them,
had to go through that same saving element of water,

‘WEDNESDAY

IN EASTER

WEEK

in order to escape their fierce enemies;

215

it carried them

safe into the land of their hopes, and stood as a rampart
to defend them against invasion.
By the goodness of God, that water, which is an
obstacle to man’s pursuing his way, was turned into
an ally for Israel’s march; the laws it had from nature
were

suspended,

people.

In

like

and

it became

manner,

the

the

sacred

saviour

of God’s

font—which,

as

the Church told us on the feast of the Epiphany, is
made an instrument of divine grace—has become the

refuge and fortress of our happy neophytes; their passing
through its waters has put them out of reach of the
tyrant’s grasp.

Having

reached the

opposite

shore,

the

Israelites

see Pharaoh and his army, their shields and their chariots,

buried in the sea. When our neophytes looked at the
holy font, from which they had risen to the life of grace,
they rejoiced to see the tomb where their sins, enemies
worse

than

Pharach

and

his minions,

lay buried

for

ever.
Then did the Israelites march cheerfully on towards
the land that God had promised to give them.

the journey, they will have

lawgiver;

God as their teacher

and

they will have their thirst quenched by foun-

tains springing up from
be fed on manna sent
neophytes, too, will run
country, their Promised
the desert of this world,
dangers,

During

a rock in the desert; they will
each day from heaven. Our
on unfettered to the heavenly
Land. They will go through
uninjured by its miseries and

for the divine lawgiver will teach

them,

not

amidst thunder and lightning, as he did when he gave

his law to the Israelites, but with persuasive words of

gentlest love, spoken with that sweet manner which set

on fire the hearts of the two disciples of Emmaus.
Springs of water shall refresh them at every tum, yea,
of

that

living

water

which Jesus, a few

weeks back,

told the Samaritan woman should be given to them
that adore him in spirit and in truth. And, lastly, a
heavenly Manna shall be their food, strengthening and

PASCHAL TIME

216
delighting them—a

Manna far better than that of old,

for 1t will give them immortality.
So that our Pasch means all this: it is a passing
through water to the Land of Promise, but with a reality
and truth which the Israelites had only under the veil of
types, sublime indeed and divine, but mere types. Let
then our Passover from the death of original sin to the life
of grace, by holy Baptism, be a great feast-day with us.
This may not be the anniversary of our Baptism: it
matters not; let us fervently celebrate our exodus from
the Egypt of the world into the Christian Church; let
us, with glad and grateful hearts, renew our baptismal
vows, which made our God so liberal in his gifts to us;

let us renounce

mps.

Satan, and all his works,

and

all his

Tl% Apostle of the Gentiles tells us of another mystery
of the waters of Baptism; it gives completion to all we

have been saying, and equally forms part of our Pasch.

He teaches us that we were hidden beneath this water,
as was Christ in his tomb; and that we then died, and
were buried, together with him.*
It was the death of
our life of sin: that we might live to God, we had to die

to sin.

When we think of the holy font where we were

regenerated, let us call it the tomb, wherein we buried
the Old Man, who was to have no resurrection.
Bap-

tism by immersion—which

was the ancient mode

of

administering the Sacrament, and is still used in some

countries—was expressive of this spiritual burial: the
neophyte was made to disappear beneath the water:
he was dead to his former life, as our buried Jesus was

to his mortal life. But, as our Redeemer did not remain
in the tomb, but rose again to a new life, so likewise,

says the Apostle,? they who are baptized, rise again with
him when they come from the font; they bear on them
the pledges of immortality and glory, and are the true
and living members of that Head, who dieth now no
more. Here again is our Pasch, our passage from
death to life.
1 Rom. vig.
* Coloss. ii 12.

WEDNESDAY
At

Rome,

the

IN EASTER

WEEK:

MASS

217

Station is in the basilica of St Lau-

rence outside the Walls. 1t is looked upon as the most
important of the many churches built by Rome in

honour of her favourite
the high altar, Hither
that they might learn,
and generous a soldier

martyr, whose body lies under
were the neophytes led to-day,
from the example of so brave
of Christ, how courageous they

should be in confessing their faith, and how faithful in

living up to their baptismal vows. For several centuries, the reception of Baptism was a preparation for

martyrdom; but at all times it is an enlisting in the
service of Christ, which we cannot leave without incurring the guilt and penalty of traitors.

MASS
The Introit is composed of those words, which the
Son of God will speak to his elect, at the last Judge-

ment, when calling them into his kingdom.

The Church

applies them to the neophytes, and thus raises up their

thoughts to that eternal happiness, the remembrance
of which supported the martyrs in their sufferings.
INTROIT

Venite _benedicti Patris
mei; percipite regnum, alleluia: quod vobis
paratum
est ab origine mundi. AlleIuia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Cantate Domino canticum novum: cantate Domino omnis terra. ¥. Gloria
Patri. Venite.

_Come, ye blessed of my
Father, possess the kingdom,
alleluia: which hath been prepared for you from the begining of the world. Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Sing to the Lord a new
song: sing to the Lord all the
earth. ¥. Glory, etc. Come,
etc.

In the Collect, the Church reminds her children that

the feasts of the holy Liturgy are a means of our coming

to the eternal feasts of heaven.

It is with this truth and

hope before us that we have drawn up our Liturgical Year.

‘We must, therefore, so celebrate our Easter of time as to

deserve to be admitted into the joys of the eternal Easter.

PASCHAL

218

TIME

COLLECT

O God, who by the yearly
nis Dominica annua solem- solemnity of the Resurrection
nitate
letificas:
concede of our Lord fillest us with
propitius, ut per temporalia joy; nmercifully grant that
festa qua agimus, pervenire by = these temporal festivals
ad gaudia @terna mereamur. which we celebrate, we may at
last come to the possession of
Per eumdem.
those {:»y: that are eternal.
Through the same, etc.
Deus

To

qui nos resurrectio-

this the Church,

during

other of the following Collects:

this week,

adds

one

or

Against the persecutors of the Church

Ecclesiz tuz, quasumus
Domine, preces placatus admitte: ut, destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, secura tibi serviat
libertate. Per Dominum.

Mercifully hear, we beseech
thee, O Lord, theprayers of thy
Church: that, all oppositions
and errors being removed, she
may serve thee with a secure
liberty. Through etc.

For the Pope

Deus, omnium fidelium
Pastor et rector, famulum
tuum N. quem Pastorem
Ecclesiz tum praesse voluisti, propitius’ respice: da
ei, qumsumus, verbo et
exemplo, quibus
praest,
proficere; ut ad vitam, una
cum grege sibi credito, B
veniat sempiternam.
Per
Dominum.

Lectio Actuum Apostolorum,

EPISTLE

Cap. III.
In diebus illis: Aperiens
Petrus os suum, dixit: Viri
et
Israelite,
%xei
timetis

Deum, audite:

us

0O God, the Pastor and Ruler
of all the faithful, look down
in thy mercy on thy servant
N, whom thou hast appointed
Pastor over thy Church: and
grant, we bescech thee, that
both by word and example, he
may edify all those that are
under his charge; and with
the flock entrusted to him,
arrive at length at eternal
happiness. Through, etc.

Abra-

Lesson from the Acts of the
Apostles.
Ch. III.
_ In those days: Peter opening his mouth, said: You men
of Israel,e
and you who fear
God, give ear.” The God of

WEDNESDAY

IN EASTER

ham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus

Jacob, Deus patrum nostrorum glorificavit Filium suum Jesum, quem vos quidem "tradidistis, et negastis
ante faciem Pilati, judicante
il dimitti, Vos autem
sanctum et justum negastis,
et petistis virum homicidam
donari vobis: auotorem vero vite interfecistis, quem
Deus suscitavit a mortuis,
cujus nos testes sumus. Et
nunc fratres, scio quia per
ignorantiam ~fecistis, sicut
et principes vestri. Deus autem, que prenuntiavit per
os 'omnium prophetarum,
ati Christum
suum, sic
mplevit. Peenitemini igitur,
et convertimini, ut deleantur peccata vestra.

WEEK:

MASS

219

Abrabam, and the God of
Tsaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, hath
glorified his Son Jesus, whom
you indeed delivered up and
denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should
be relcased. But
you denied
the Holy One and the Just,
and desired a murderer to be
granted unto you. But the Author of life_you killed, whom
God hath raised from the dead,
of which we are witnesses.
And now, brethren, I know
that you did it through ignorance, as did also your rulers.
But those things which God before had showed by the mouth
of all the prophets, that his
Christ_should suffer, he hath
so fulfilled. Repent, therefore,
and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out.

To-day, again, we have the prince of the Apostles
proclaiming in Jerusalem the Resurrection of the ManGod. On this occasion, he was accompanied by St
John, and had just worked his first miracle, of curing
the lame man, near one of the gates of the temple.

The

thousand

to receive

five

weakness

and

people had crowded round the two Apostles, and St
Peter preached to them; it was the second time he
had spoken in public. His first sermon brought three
Baptism;

the one of to-day,

thousand. Truly did the Apostle exercise on these two
occasions his office of fisher of men, which our Lord gave
him when he first called him to be his disciple. Let us
admire -the charity wherewith St Peter bids the Jews
acknowledge Jesus as their Messias. These are the very
men who have denied him; and yet the Apostle, by
partially excusing their crime on the score of ignorance,
encourages them to hope for pardon. They clamoured
for the death of Jesus in the days of his voluntary
humiliation;

let them,

now

that

he is

PASCHAL TIME
220
glorified, acknowledge him as their Messias and King,
and their sin shall be forgiven.

In a word, let them

humble themselves and they shall be saved.
God

and

call unto himself

an upright

heart;

those who

were

Thus did

of a good will,

thus does he also in these our

days. There were some in Jerusalem who corresponded
to the call; but the far greater number refused to follow
it. It is the same now.
Let us earnestly beseech our
Lord that the nets of his fishermen may be filled, and
the Paschal banquet be crowded with guests.
GRADUAL

This is the day which the
Hac dies quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus, et lete- Lord hath made: let us be glad
and rejoice therein.
mur in ea.
¥. The right hand of the
¥. Dextera Domini fecit
Lord hath wrought strength:
virtutem,
dextera
Domini
exaltavit me.
Alleluia, alle- the right hand of the Lord hath
exalted me. Alleluia, alleluia.
luia.
¥. Surrexit Dominus ve¥. The Lord hath truly risen,
re, et apparuit Petro.
and hath appeared to Peter.
The Sequence, Victime Paschali, p. 145.
GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii Sequel of the holy Gospel
secundum Joannem.
accordingto John.
Cap. XXI.
Ch. XXI.
At that time: Jesus showed
In illo tempore: Manifestavit se iterum Jesus disci- himself
agin to ‘the_disciples
at the sea of Tiberias. And
ulis
ad
mare
Tiberiadis.
anifestavit
autem
he showed himself aiter this
manner. There were together
Erant simul Simon Petru:
et Thomas,
qui dicitur Did
Simon Peter, and Thomas, who
mus, et Nathanael, qui_ erat is called Didymus, and Naa Cana Galilze, et fili Ze- thaniel, who was of Cana in
bedei, et alii ex discipulis Galilee, and the sons of Zebeejus duo. Dicit eis Simon dee, and two others of his disciples. simon Peter sithto
etrus:
Vado piscari. Dicunt
ei: Venimus et nos tecum.
: I go a fishing.
The
Et exierunt, et ascenderunt
say o him We alao come wit
in navim: et illa nocte nihil thee. And they went forth,
and entered into the ship; and
rendiderunt,
Mane
autem
to, stetit Jesus in lit- that night they caught nothing.

WEDNESDAY

WEEK:

IN EASTER

tore: non tamen cognoverunt discipuli quia Jesus est.
Dixit ergo eis Jesus: Pues
nnmq}\lid pulmentarium b
betis? _ Responderunt ei:
Non. Dicit eis: Mittite in
dexteram navigii rete, et
invenietis, Miserunt ergo:
et jam non valebant illud
trahere
pra
multitudine
piscium.
Dixit ergo _disciulus ille, quem diligebat
esus, Petro: Dominus est.
Simon Petrus cum audisset
quia Dominus est, _tunica
succinxit se (erat enim nudus) et misit se in mare.
Alii autem discipuli navigio
Venerunt (non enim longe
erant a terra, sed quasi cubitis ducentis): trahentes rete piscium. Ut ergo descenderunt in_terram, viderunt
prunas positas, et piscem superpositum,
et panem. Dicit
eis Jesus: Afferte de piscibus “quos prendidistis nunc.
Ascendit Simon Petrus: ot
traxit rete in terram, plenum magnis piscibus centum quinquaginta tribus.
Et cum tanti essent, non
est scissum rete. Dicit eis
Jesus: Venite, prandete. . Et
nemo
audebat
discumbentium interrogare eum: Tu
quis es? scientes quia Dominus est. Et venit Jesus,
et accipit panem, et dat eis,
et piscem similiter. Hoc
jam tertio manifestatus est
discipulis suis cum resurrexisset a mortuis.

But

when

come,

Jesus

the

MASS

221

morning

was

stood

on

the

shore: yet the disciples knew
not that it was Jesus. Jesus
therefore

said

to

them:

Chil-

dren, have you any meat?
They answered him: No. He
saith to them:

Cast the net

on

the right side of the ship; and
u shall find. Theycast thereore: and now they are not
able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
That disciple

therefore

whom

Jesus

loved

said to Peter: It is the Lord.
Simon Peter, when
he heard
that it was the Lord, in his

coat about him (for
naked)

the

sea.

he was

and cast himself into
But

the other disci-

ples came in the ship (for they

were not far from the land, but
as it were two hundred cubits)

dragging the net with fishes.
soon then as they came to
land, they saw hot coals lying,
and a fish laid thereon, and
bread.
Jesus saith to them:
Bring
hither of the fishes which

ou have now caught. Simon
eter went up, and drew the
net to land, full of great fishes,
one hundred and fifty-three.
And although there were 30
many, the net was not broken.
Jesus saith to them: Come, and
dine.
were
‘Who

And none of them who

at meat durst ask him:
art thou ? knowing that

it was the Lord.

And Jesus

cometh and taketh bread,
giveth them, and fish in

manner.

and
like

This is now the third

time that Jesus was manifested

to

his disciples,

risen from

after he

the dead.

was

Jesus had shown himself to all his A postles on the
Sunday evening; he repeated his visit to them eight
days after, as we shall see further on. The Gospel for

TIME

PASCHAL

222

to-day tells us of a third apparition, wherewith seven
of the eleven were favoured.
of Lake Genesareth, which,

It took place on the shore

on account of its size, was

called the Sea of Tiberias. The seven are delighted
beyond measure at seeing their divine Master; he treats
them with affectionate familiarity, and provides them
with a repast. John is the first to recognize Jesus;
nor can we be surprised: his purity gives keen perception
to the eye of his soul, as it is written: ‘ Blessed are the
clean of heart, for they shall see God.’* Peter throws
himself from the ship, that he may the more quickly
reach his Lord. His natural impetuosity shows itself
here as on so many other occasions; but in this impetuosity we see that he loved Jesus more than his fellowdisciples did. But let us attentively consider the other
mysteries of our Gospel.
The seven disciples are fishing: it is the Church working out her apostolate. Peter is the master-fisherman;
it belongs to him to decide when and where the nets are
to be thrown.
The other six Apostles unite with him

in the work,

and Jesus is with them all, looking upon

their labour, and directing it, for whatever is procured

by it is all for him.

The fish are the faithful,

for, as

we have already had occasion to remark, the Christian

was
was

life.

often called by this name

in the early ages.

It

the font, it was water, that gave him his Christian

Yesterday, we were considering how the Israelites

owed their safety to the waters of the Red Sea; and our
Gospel for to-day speaks of a Passover, a passing from
Genesareth’s waters to a banquet prepared by Jesus.
There is a mystery, too, in the number of the fishes that
are taken; but what it is that is signified by these hundred
and fifty-three we shall perhaps never know, until the
day of Judgement reveals the secret. They probably
denote

some

divisions or portions

of the human

race,

that are to be gradually led, by the apostolate of the
Church, to the Gospel of Christ: but, once more, till
God’s time comes, the book must remain sealed.

3 St Matt. v 8,

Having

reached

their beloved

a repast:

the

Master,

bread,

shore,

and

lo!

MASS

WEEK:

IN EASTER

WEDNESDAY

the

Apostles

he has

223

surround

prepared

and a fish lying on hot coals.

them

This

fish is not one of those they themselves have caught;

they are to partake of it now that they have come from

the water. The early Christians thus interpret the
mystery: the fish represents Christ, who was made to
suffer the cruel torments of the Passion, and whose love
of us was the fire that consumed him; and he became
the divine food of them that are regenerated by water.
We

have

elsewhere

remarked,

that

in

the

primitive

Church, the Greek word for fish (Ichthus) was venerated
as a sacred symbol, inasmuch as the letters of this word

formed the initials of the titles of our Redeemer.?

But Jesus would unite, in the same repast, both the

divine Fish, which is himself,
which represent all mankind,

and those
and have

out of the water in Peter’s net.

The

other fishes,
been drawn

Paschal feast

has the power to effect, by love, an intimate and substantial union between the Food and the guests, between

the Lamb

of God and the other lambs who

are his

brethren, between the divine Fish and those others that

he has associated with himself by the closest ties of

fellowship.

They, like him, have been offered in sacrifice;

they follow him in suffering and in glory.

Witness the

great deacon Laurence, around whose tomb the faithful

are now assembled. He was made like to his
Master when he was burnt to death on his
gridiron; he is now sharing with him in an eternal
the glories of Jesus’ victory, and the joys of his
happiness.

divine
red-hot
Pasch,
infinite

The Offertory is formed from the words of the Psalm,
which commemorate the manna that heaven gave to

the Israelites, after they had passed through the Red
Sea.

But the new Manna is as far superior to the old,

which nourished only the body, as our baptismal font,

which washes away our sins, is grander than the mighty
waves, which swallowed up Pharaoh and his army.
+ Seo our volume of Lewt, p. 316

224

PASCHAL

TIME

OFFERTORY

Portas ceeli aperuit Dominus: et pluit illis manna, ut ederent: panem ceceli
dedit eis: panem angelorum manducavit homo, alleluia.

The Lord opened the gates
of heaven, and rained down
manna for them to eat: he gave
them the bread of heaven:
man_ hath eaten the bread of
angels, alleluia.

In the Secret, the Church speaks in glowing terms of
the heavenly Bread that feeds us and is the Victim of
our Paschal Sacrifice.
SECRET

Sacrificia, Domine, paschalibus _ gaudiis immolamus: _quibus Ecclesia tua
mirabiliter
et
pascitur
et
nutritur. Per Dominum.
To

this, the Church,

We offer thee, O Lord, with
joy, these Paschal sacrifices,
wherewith thy Church is wonderfully fed and nourished.
Through, etc.

during

other of the following Secrets:

this week, adds one or

Against the persecutors of the Church

Protege
nos, Domine,
Protect us, O Lord, while we
tuis mysteriis servientes: assist at thy sacred mysteries:
ut divinis rebus inhzrentes, that being employed in acts of

et corpore tibi famulemur
et mente. Per Dominum.
Oblatis,

quesumus,

religion, we may serve thee
both in body and mind.
Through, etc.

For the Pope

Do- ~ Be appeased, O Lord, with
mine, placare muneribus: et the offering we have made:
famulum tuum N. quem and cease not to protect thy
Pastorem Ecclesiz tuz pra- servant N., whom thou hast
esse voluisti, assidua pro- been pleased to appoint Pastectione guberna. Per Do- tor over thy Church. Through,

minum.
Our

down

Lord

says:

‘This is the

Bread which cometh

from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he

not die.*

In the

Communion Anthem
* St John vi so.

we have

may

the

WEDNESDAY

IN EASTER

WEEK:

MASS

225

Apostle telling us that Christ, rising from the dead, dieth
These two texts tell us the effect produced
now no more.
in our souls by the holy Eucharist: we eat an immortal
Food, and it communicates to us its own undying life.

resurgens

COMMUNION

ex _ Christ rising from the dead,

jam non moritur,
mors illi ultra non
dominabitur. - Allluia, - alleuia.

dieth now no
death shall no
minion
over
alleluia.

more, alleluia:
more have dohim.
Alleluia,

In the Postcommunion, the Church prays for us,
that we may receive the effects of the divine Food of
which we have just partaken; she prays that it may
purify us, and substitute the new principle (which is in
our risen Jesus) for the old one that was in us.
POSTCOMMUNION

Ab omni nos, quasumus
Domine, vetustate purgatos, Sacramenti tui veneranda perceptio in novam
transferat creaturam. Qui
vivis.
To

this the Church,

Grant, we beseech thee, O
Lord, that being cleansed from
the old leaven, the
tion
of thy venerable Sacrament
may transform us into a new
creature. Who livest, etc.

during this week,

other of the following Postcommunions:

adds one or

Against the persecutors of the Church

Quasumus, Domine Deus
noster: ut quos divina tribuis participatione gaudere, humanis non sinas subjacere periculis, Per Dominum.

Hec
mine,
mulum
storem

~ We beseech thee, O almighty God, not to leave exposed to the dangers of human life those whom thou hast
permitted to partake of these
divine mysteries.

Through, etc.

For the Pope

nos, quasumus, DoMay the participation of
divini Sacramenti this divine Sacrament protect
t: et fa- us, we beseech thee, O Lord,
twum N. quem Pa- and always procure safety and
Ecclesiz tuz pra- defence to thy servant N.,
15

226

PASCHAL

TIME

esse voluisti, una cum com- whom thou hast appointed
misso sibi grege salvet sem- Pastor over thy Church, toper et muniat. Per Domi- gether with the flock commitDum.
ted to his charge. Through, etc.
DEI

BLESSING OF THE 4NGUS

The Wednesday of Easter week is the day set apart,

at Rome, for the blessmg of the Agnus Desi.

This cere-

mony is performed by the Pope, the first and every
seventh year of his pontificate.
The Agnus Dei
are discs of wax,

on which are stamped,

the image of the Lamb

some saint.

on one side

of God, and on the other that of

The custom of blessing them at Eastertide

isvery ancient.

We find traces of it in the Liturgy even

so far back as the seventh century.

When, in the year

1544, they opened at Rome the tomb of the Empress
Mary (wife of Honorius, and daughter of Su].lcho), who
dlEd before the middle of the fifth century, there
was found in it an Agnus Des, resembling those now
blessed by the Pope.
It is therefore incorrect to state, as some authors

have done, that the Agnus Deis originated at the time
when the administration of Baptism at Easter fell into
disuse,

and

memorative

that

they

were

meant

of the ancient rite.

doubt that at Rome

as

symbols

com-

There is very little

each neophyte used to receive an

Agnus Dei from the Pope on Holy Saturday.
We may,
then, rightly conclude—and the conclusion is confirmed
by the fact just mentioned regarding the tomb of the

Empress Mary—that the solemn administration of
Baptism and the blessing of the Agnus Dei were contemporaneous, at least for a certain period.
The Agnus Dei are made from the Paschal candle
of the

previous

year;

of course,

other wax is added to it.

a great

quantity

of

Formerly, it was the custom

to pour in some drops of the holy chrism. In the
Middle Ages the wax was prepared and stamped by the

subdeacons and acolytes of the Pope’s palace; the Cister~
cian monks

of the monastery of St Bernard,

have now that honour.

in Rome,

WEDNESDAY
The

IN EASTER

takes place in one

ceremony

WEEK

227

of the rooms

of

the pontifical palace. A large vase of holy water is
prepared; and the Pope, standing near it, recites the

following prayer:

O Lord God, almighty Father, Creator of the elements,
preserver of mankind, author of grace and eternal salvation,
Who badest the rivers that flowed from Paradise to water
the whole earth| O thou, whose only-begotten Son walked
dry-shod on the waters, and in the same was baptized, who
also gave forth from his most sacred side water mingled with
Blood, and commanded his disciples to baptize all nations;
be merciful unto us, and pour forth thy blessing upon us who
celebrate all these wonders; that thus the creatures which
we are about to plunge into this water may be blessed and
sanctified by thee, and that the honour and veneration which
shall be shown to them may draw down upon us, thy servants,
the forgiveness of sins, pardon and grace, and finally life eternal
together with thy saints and elect.
After

this, the

into the water,

Pontiff pours balm and holy chrism

beseeching

God

to sanctify

purpose to which it is now to be used.

it for the

He then turns

towards the baskets, which hold the waxen tablets, and

recites this prayer:

O God, the author of all sanctification, whose goodness is
ever with us; thou who, when Abraham, the father of our
faith, was preparing to slay his son Isaac in obedience to thy
commands, didst will him to consummate his sacrifice by
offering up the ram that was entangled in the briers: thou
who_didst prescribe, through thy servant Moses, the yearly
sacrifice of the spotless lambs; deign, we pray thee, to bless
and sanctify, by the invocation of thy holy Name, these forms
of wax, which bear the impress of the most innocent Lamb;
that by their contact and presence, the faithful may be incited
to pray, storms and tempests be driven away, and the wicked
spirits put to flight by the virtue of the holy Cross hereon marked,
before which every knee bends, and every tongue confesses that
Jesus Christ, having conquered death on the gibbet of the Cross,
now reigneth in the glory of God the Father. He it is who,
when led to death as a sheep to slaughter, offered unto thee his
Father the sacrifice of his own Body, that he might bring back
the lost sheep that had been led astray by the devil’s fraud, and
carry it on his shoulders to the fold of heaven.
O almighty and eternal God, the institutor of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the law, who didst deign to turn away
thine anger from sinful man as often as he ofiered victims of

PASCHAL

228

TIME

ropitiation unto thee; who didst graciously accept the sacriBoes made by Abel, Mélchisedech, Abraham, Moses and Aaron,
which sacrifices were indeed but figures, yet by thy blessing
were made holy and profitable to them that humbly offered
them; grant, we beseech thee, that as the innocent Lamb,
Jesus Christ thy Son, when immolated at thy will on the altar
of the Cross, delivered our first parent from the power of the
devil, so may these spotless lambs, which we present to thy
divine Majesty for a blessing, be endued with power unto good.
Deign to bless them, to sanctify them, to consecrate them, to
give them the power to protect thost Wwho devoutly carry them
against the malice of demons, against tempests, pestilence,
sickness, fire, and enemies; and make them efficacious in protecting the mother and her child in the dangers of travail.
Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord.
After

these

prayers,

the

Pope

girds

himself

a cloth, and sits near the vessel of holy water.

ministers bring him

the Agnus Dei, which

with

The

he plunges

into the water, in imitation of the Baptism of the neophytes.
The prelates who are present take them from
the water, and place them upon tables covered with
white linen. Then the Pontiff rises, and says the following prayer:

O Holy Spirit! who makest the waters fruitful, and usest
them as the instrument of thy fuat:st mysteries; who didst
take away their bitterness, and give them sweetness; and,
sanctifying them by thy breathing, dost employ them for
washing away all sins, by the invocation of the Holy Trinity;
vouchsafe to bless, sanctify, and consecrate these lambs that
have been cast into the holy water, and have imbibed of the
balm and holy chrism. May they reccive power from thes
against the efiorts of the devil's malice; may they who wear
them abide in safety; may they have nought to fear from danger; may the wickedness of men have no power to hurt them;
and do thou mercifully be their strength and consolation.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God | who art the
innocent Lamb, the Priest and the Victim; whom the prophets
called the vine and the corner-stone; who didst redeem us by
thy Blood, and with that same didst sign our hearts and
foreheads, that the enemy, when passing our dwellings, might
not wreak his anger upon us; who art the spotless Lamb offered
in ceaseless sacrifice; who art the Paschal Lamb, become, under
the sacramental species, the remedy and salvation of our souls;
who guidest us across the sea of this present life to the resurrection and glory of eternity: deign, we beseech thes, to bless,
sanctify, and consecrate these spotless lambs, which in thy

WEDNESDAY

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229

honour we have formed out of virgin wax, and have impregnated with holy water, and sacred balm and chrism, intending
hereby to commemorate thy being divinely conceived by the
operation of the Holy Ghost. Protect those that wear them
from fire, and lightning, and tempests, and every adversity;
grant them to be a safeguard to mothers in the pains of childbirth, as thou didst assist thine own when she gave thee birth.
And as thou heretofore didst save Susanna from her false accusers, and the blessed martyr and virgin Thecla from torture,
and Peter from his prison chains; so now vouchsafe to deliver
us from the dangers of this world, and give us to merit life
eternal with thee.
The Agnus Dei are then respectfully taken, and kept
for the solemn distribution to be made on the following
Saturday.
It is not difficult to see how this ceremony
bears on the Pasch; the Paschal Lamb is frequently
mentioned, and the plunging of these sacred images
into the water

is an evident

tration of Baptism, which,
a prominent
feature of

prayers,

which

we

translation,

are not

at

and

rite
As
the
the

have

allusion to

for so many
the Easter

somewhat

of .a very

ancient

the

adminis-

centuries, was
Octave.
The

abridged

in

date;

still,

our
the

which accompanies them refers implicitly to Baptism.
we have already remarked, the custom of blessing
Agnus Dei was observed several centuries before
abolition of the solemn administration of Baptism

Easter;

is an

additional

proof

of the

fervent

devotion wherewith the Church has ever honoured the
mystery of the Lamb at Eastertide.
On account of their sublime symbolism, their being
blessed by the Sovereign Pontiff, and the solemnity
of their rite, the Agnus

Dei are considered

as one

of

the most venérated objects of Catholic piety. They
are sent from the holy city to every part of the world.
The faith of those who respectfully keep them in their
houses,

by

or wear

miracles.

them,

During

has

the

frequently

pontificate

been

of St

rewarded

Pius

V,

the Tiber overflowed its banks, and threatened d
struction of several quarters of the city: an Agnus Dei

was thrown into the river, and the water immediately

receded.

This miracle, which was witnessed by several

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PASCHAL

TIME

thousands of the inhabitants, was brought forward in
the process of the beatification of this great Pontiff.
On this the fourth day were created the sun, the glorious

of the Incarnate Word; the moon, the symbol of
Mary’s loveliness,' and of the Church, which reflects
the light of the Sun of justice; and the stars, which, by

their number

and beauty, are an image of the bright

countless host of God’s elect. Let us glorify the Son of
God, the author of all these wondrous works of nature
and grace; and with hearts full of gratitude towards him
who has thus cheered us with all this magnificent light,
let us unite in the prayer offered to him to-day by the
Gothic Church of Spain.
CAPITULA

Ecce, Domine, vesperum
quarti diei hujus
officiosis
luminaribus
frequentamus,
in quo luminaria in firmamento ceeli constituens, quasi in solidamento legis infigens, quatuor videlicet
Evangelistarum una te voce
canentium corda _illustrare
dignatus es: quo te in quatuor mundi partes et mortem
pro nmobis gustasse, et a
mortuis resurrexisse, unitis
vocibus nuntiarent: te ergo
petimus, teque rogamus, ut
in hujus vit obscuritate, ita
resurrectionis tuz in nobis
prefulgeat gratia, ut resurrecturi mereamur pertingere
ad coronam.

Behold, O Lord, we celebrate,
with lights brightly burning,
the evening Office of this fourth
day, whereon, by setting lights
in the firmament of heaven,
thou didst deign to give us a
figure of the four
which are established on the
foundation of the law, and
whose concordant testimony of
thee is a light to our hearts.
They all unite in telling,
through the four parts of the
world, that thou didst suffer
death’ for our sake, and didst
rise again from the dead. We
therefore pray and beseech
thee, that we may so shine with
the grace of thy Resurrection
in the darkness of this life, as
to deserve a crown when the
day of our resurrection comes.

We take from the Missal of the same Church the
following beautiful allocution, in which are celebrated
the mysteries of the miraculous draught of fish, mentioned in to-day’s Gospel:
1 Cant.vig.

WEDNESDAY

IN EASTER

231

WEEK

MISSA

Procellosum mare fluctuantis szculi transeuntes, lignum crucis fiducialiter ascendamus, et secundis Sancti
Spiritus flatibus_vela fidei
committamus. Super littus
namque Christus assistens
gloriosam _sine macula Ecclesiam figuravit, quando
‘magnis piscibus indisruptum
rete complevit. Nec
a parte
dextera jussit deviare navigium, quod tunc solorum
bonorum portendebat _indicium. Subsequamur _igitur,
sacramenti admirabilis veritatem diligentes ac tenentes
principaliter _unitatem. Nulus ad schismata nefanda
prosiliat, vel dominica retia
mec dum littori prasentantur abrumpat.
Ut connumerati inter mysticos pisces,
cibus esse Domini qui
nos ex profundo est dignatus eruere mereamur, et
specialiter membra_ejus_effecti, sacrificiis ~salutaribus
expiemur.
Of

all the

sequences

Having to pass over the
stormy sea of the world, let us
confidently mount upon the
wood of the Cross, and spread
the sails of our faith to the
favourable breathings of the
Holy Ghost. ~Christ stood upon
the shore, and gave us a vision
of his glorious and unwrinkled
Church, when he filled the net
with great fishes, and yet was
it not broken. He bade them
not to leave the right side,
because under this Sgure he
would signify the go d
alone,
Let us, therefore, follow and
love the truth of this admirable
mystery, and keep fast hold to
unity. ~Let no man pass over to
wicked schism, nor break the
mets of the Lord as they are
being drawn to the shore. That
thus being numbered among
the mystic fish of Christ, we
may deserve to become his
food, for it was he that mercifully delivered us from the
abyss: and whereas we are, in
50 special a manner, his members, let us purify ourselves by
the Sacrifice of salvation.

comj posed

by

Adam

of

St

Victor, the following is the richest in its allusions to
the types of the Old Testament, which refer to Christ’s
victory over death. The chant to which it was sung
was taken afterwards as the basis of that of the
magnificent Lauda Sion.

Zyma vetus expurgetur,

Ut sincere celebretur
Nova resurrectio:

SEQUENCE

Let the old leaven be purged
out, that we may celebrate,
with sincerity,
rection.

the new

Resur-

232
PASCHAL TIME
This s the day of our hope:
Haec est dies nostra spei,
Hujus mira vis diei
the day of wondrous power,
as
the ancient Testament foreLegis testimonio.
% £ despoiled
despoil
the e E Egyptians,
Hzc ZEgyptum spoliavit
Et Hebraes liberavit
and delivered from the. sron
De fornace ferrea:
furnace the Israclites,
His in arcto constitutis,
Who were treated with hardOpus erat servitutis,
ship, and made to work as
Lutum, later, palea.
slaves in clay, and brick, and
picking straw.
Jam divinz laus virtutis,
Now let us praise the power
am triumphi, jam salutis
of God: now Jet us givs froe
ox erumpat libera.
scope to our song of triumph
and salvation.
Hzc est dies quam fecit
This is the day which the
Dominus,
Lord hath made: the day that
Dies nostri doloris terminus, puts an end to our mourning:
Dies salutifera.
the day of our salvation.
Lex est umbra futurorum,
The law was the shadow of
Christus, finis promissorum,
things to come; the end of all
Qui consummat omnia.
its promises is Christ, for he
consummates all things.
Christi sanguis igneam
His Blood turned the edge
Hebetavit romphzam,
of the flaming sword, and reAmota custodia.
moved the guard (that forbade
our entrance into Paradise).
Puer nostri forma risus,
Isaac, whose name signifies
laughter, and in whose stead
Pro quo vervex est occisus,
Vit signat gaudium.
the ram ‘was slain, was a figure

Joseph exit de cisterna:
Christus redit ad superna,
Post mortis supplicium.
Hic dracones Pharaonis
Draco vorat, a draconis
Immunis malitia.
Quos ignitus vulnerat,
Hos serpentis liberat
ZEnei prasentia.
Anguem forat in maxilla
Christ: hamus et armilla:
In cavernam reguli
Manum mittit ablactatus;
Et sic fugit exturbatus
Vetus hostis szculi.

of the joyful mystery that
gives us life.
Joseph taken from the well
is Christ rising from the grave,
after being put to death.
He is the serpent that devours Pharaoh’s serpents; but
be has none of the serpent’s
wickedness.
Under the type of the brazen
serpent, he heals them that are
bitten by the fiery serpent.
The hook he threw out to
the serpent was taken, and it
tore the monster's jaw. Thus
the weaned child_could safely
thrust his hand into the den
of the basilisk, and the old
enemy of mankind was put to
Sight.

WEDNESDAY

IN EASTER WEEK

233

They that insulted Eliseus,
Dum conscendit domum Dei, when he ascended to the house
sentiunt:
Zelum calvi
of the Lord, were made to feel
David arreptitius,
the anger of him they named
the bald: David escaped from
Hircus emissarius
Et passer effugiunt.
his enemy: the scapegoat and
the sparrow were set free.
In maxilla mille sternit,
Samson slays thousands with
Et de tribu sua spernit
a dry bone, and scorns to take
Samson matrimonium;
to himself a wife from his
Samson Gaz seras pandit
own tribe; he throws open the
Et as)
ortas scandit
gates of Gaza, and carries them
Montis supercilium,
fo the mountain top.
So the mighty Lion of Juda
Sic de Juda Leo fortis
Tractis portis dir@ mortis,
breaks down the gates of cruel
Die surgit tertia;
death, and rises on the third
Rugiente voce Patris,
day; his Father's voice awakens
Ad supern sinum matris
him, and he carries his many
Tot revexit spolia.
spoils to the bosom of the
mother above.
Cetus Jonam fugitivum,
Jonas, the fugitive prophet,
Veri Jon signativum,
and the figure of the true
Post tres dies reddit vivum
Jonas, came forth alive from
De ventris angustia.
the whale's belly after three
days.
e vine of Cyprus is again
Botrus Cypri reflorescit,
Dilatatur ef excrescit;
in flower, and spreads, and
Synagoga flos marcescit,
ripens: the flower of the SynaEt floret Ecclesia.
gogue is faded, the Church is
er bloom.
Mors et vita conflixere,
Death_and life fought each
Resurrexit Christus vere,
other; Christ rose again, and
Et cum Christo surrexere
with ‘him many witnesses of
Multi testes gloriz.
his glory.
X
Mane novum, mane laLet morning, new and joytum
ous, dry up the evening tears:
Vespertinum tergat fletum;
for life has conquered death,
Quia vita vicit lethum:
and it is the season of joy.
Tempus est latitie.
Jesu victor, Jesu vita,
O Jesus, conqueror! Jesus,
Jesu vitz via trita,
! whose
our life | Jesus, our way
Cujus morte mors sopita,
death Lilled death! bid us
Ad paschalem nos invita’
come, with confidence, to the
Mensam cum fiducia.
Paschal banquet.
Vive panis, vivax unda,
O living bread | O water of
Vera vitis et feecunda,
life O true and fruitful vine |
Tu nos pasce, tu nos munda, feed us, cleanse us, save us,
Ut a morte nos secunda
by thy grace, from the second
Tua salvet gratia. Amen.
death. Amen.
Irrisores Elis®i,

PASCHAL TIME

234

THURSDAY

IN

EASTER

WEEK

Hazc dies quam fecit Do- _ This is the day which the
minus: exsultemus et lete- Lord hath made: let us be
mur in ea.
glad and rejoice therein.
FTER

having

glorified the

Lamb

of God, and

the

Passover whereby our Lord destroyed our enemies;

after having celebrated our deliverance by water, and
our entrance into the Promised Land; let us now fix

our respectful gaze upon him whose triumph is prefigured by all these prodigies. So dazzling is the glory
that

now

beams

from

this

Man-God,

that,

like

the

prophet of Patmos, we shall fall prostrate before him.
But he is so wonderful,

too, in his love, that he will

encourage us to enjoy the grand vision: he will say to us,
as he did to his disciple: ‘Fear not ! I am the First, and
the Last; and alive, and was dead; and behold!

I am

living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and
of hell.”*

Yes, he is now Master of death, which had held him

captive; he holds in his hand the keys of hell. These
expressions of Scripture signify that he has power over
death and the tomb; he has conquered them. Now the
first use he makes of his victory is to make us partakers
ofit. Let us adore his infinite goodness; and, in accord-

ance with the wish of holy Church, let us meditate to-day
upon the effects wrought in each one of ourselves by
the mystery of the Pasch. Jesus says to his beloved
disciple: ‘ I am alive, and was dead ’: the day will come

when

we also shall triumphantly

and we were dead !’

we

Death

awaits

cannot

is death’:*

us;

escape

it is daily

say: ‘ We

advancing

its vengeance.

in these

Apoc. i 17, 18

few

words

‘The

are living,

towards

wages

of Scripture,

* Rom. vi. 23.

us;

of sin

we

are

THURSDAY IN EASTER WEEK
taught

how

death

is not

only universal,

necessary; for we have all sinned.

235
but

even

This, however, does

not make the law less severe; nor can we help seeing a
frightful disorder in the violent separation of soul and
body, which were united together by God himself. If
we would truly understand death, we must

that

God

made

man

immortal:

remember

this will explain

the

instinctive dread we have of death, a dread which one
thing alone can conquer; and that is, the spirit of sacrifice.
In the death, then, of each one of us there is the handi-

work of sin, and consequently a victory won by Satan:
nay, there would be a humiliation for our Creator himself, were it not that, by sentencing us to this punishment, he satisfied his justice.

This is man’s well-merited but terrible condemnation.
‘What can he hope for? Never to die? It would be
folly: the sentence is clear, and none may escape. Can
he hope that this body, which is to become first a corpse,
and then be turned into a mere handful of dust, will one

day return to life, and be reunited to the soul for which

it was made ? But who could bring about the reunion
of an immortal substance with one that was formerly
united with it, but has now seemingly been annihilated ?
And yet, O man ! this is to be thy lot !

Thou shalt rise

again; that poor body of thine, which is to die, to be
buried, forgotten, and humbled, shall be restored to life.

Yea, it even now comes forth from the tomb, in the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ; our future resurrection
is accomplished in his;

it is to-day that we are made as

sure of our resurrection as we are of our death.

too, makes part of our glorious feast, our Pasch |

This,

God did not, at the beginning, reveal this miracle of

his power
the sweat
return to
dust thou
a word,

and goodness: all he said to Adam was: ‘ In
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
the earth, out of which thou wast taken; for
art, and into dust thou shalt return.’”? - Not

not

an

allusion,

which

gives

the

least hope with reference to that portion
1 Gea.
iii 19.

culprit

the

of himself

PASCHAL

236

TIME

which is thus doomed to death and the grave.

It was

fitting that the ungrateful pride, which had led man to

rebel against his Maker, should be humbled.

Later on

the great mystery was revealed at least partially. Four
thousand years ago, a poor sufferer, whose body was
covered with ulcers, spoke these words of hope: ‘ I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise

out of the earth.

And I shall be clothed again with my

skin, and in my flesh I shall see God: this my hope is
laid up in my bosom.™
But, in order that Job’s hope might be realized, this
Redeemer, of whom he spoke, had to come down to
this earth, give battle to death, feel its pang, and finally
conquer it. He came at the time fixed by the divine
decree. He came, not indeed to prevent us from dying
(for the sentence of God’s justice was absolute), but to
die himself, and so take away from death its bitterness

and humiliation. Like to those devoted physicians, who
have been known to inoculate themselves with the virus
of contagion, our Jesus ‘ swallowed down death,’® as the

Apostle forcibly expresses it.

But the enemy’s joy was

soon at an end; for the Man-God rose to die no more;
and by his Resurrection, he won that same right
for us.

Henceforth,

then,

we

must

new aspect. The earth will
to yield them back again,
hundredfold the seed that
great Creator will, at some

see

the

grave

under

a

receive our bodies, but only
just as she yields back a
was confided to her. Her
future day, bid her restore

the deposit he entrusted to her. The archangel’s
trumpet will give the signal of his command; and in

the twinkling of an eye, the whole
up from the grave, and proclaim the
For the just it will be a Pasch, a
Pasch we are now celebrating.
Who could describe the joy we
such a meeting ! Our soul, after, it

human race will rise
final defeat of death.
continuation of the

shall experience at

may be, a separation

of hundreds of years, united once more to that essential
3 Job xix 25-27.

* 1St Pet. iii 22.

THURSDAY IN EASTER WEEK

237

part of her being, the body ! She, perhaps, has been all
that time enjoying the beatific vision; but the whole
man was not there; our happiness was not complete,
because that of the body was wanting; and in the midst
of the soul's rapturous felicity, there was a trace still
left of the punishment to which man was condemned,
when our first parents sinned.
Our merciful God
would

not, now

that his Son

has opened

the gates of

heaven, wait till the general resurrection to reward the

souls of his elect with the vision; and yet these elect have

not their whole glory and happiness until that last day
comes and puts the last finish to the mystery of man’s
redemption. Jesus, our King and our Head, wills that
we his members shall sing with him the song that comes
from his own divine lips, and that each of us shall say
for all eternity: ‘ I am living, and I was dead!”

Mary,

who on the third day after her death was united to her

sinless body, longs to see her devoted children united
with her in heaven; but wholly and entirely, soul and
body: and this will be, when the tomb has done its work
of purification.

The holy angels, whose ranks are waiting to be
filled up by the elect among men, are affectionately
looking forward to that happy day, when the glorified
bodies of the just will spring up, like the loveliest of
earth’s flowers, to beautify the land of spirits. One of

their

joys

consists

in

gazing

bodies of Jesus and Mary—of

upon

the

resplendent

Jesus, who, even as Man,

is their King as well as ours, and of Mary, whom they

reverence as their Queen. What a feast-day, then, will
they count that, whereon we, their brothers and sisters,
whose souls have been long their companions in bliss,
shall be revested with the robe of flesh, sanctified, and
fitted for union with our radiant souls ! What a canticle
of fresh joy will ring through heaven, as it then receives
within itself all the grandeur and beanty of creation !
The angels who were present at Jesus’ Resurrection were

filled thh admiration at the sight of this Body,

was,

indeed,

of a lower nature

than themselves,

which

but

PASCHAL TIME
238
whose dazzling glory exceeded all the splendour of the
angelic host together: will they not gladly hail our
arrival, after our resurrection ? Will they not welcome
us with

fraternal

congratulations,

when

they

see us,

members as we are of this same risen Jesus, clad in
g:e s’ame gorgeous robe of glory as he, who is their

od ?
The sensual man never gives a thought to the eternal

glory and happiness of the body: he acknowledges the

resurrection of the flesh as an article of faith, but it is
not an object of his hope. He cares but for the present;

material, carnal pleasures being all he aspires to, he
considers his body as an instrument of self-gratification,
which,

as it lasts so short

quickly used.

a time,

must

be the more

There is no respect in the love he bears

to his body; hence he fears not to defile it; and after a

few years of insult, which he calls enjoyment, it becomes
the food of worms and corruption. And yet this sensual
man accuses the Church of being an enemy to the body !
the Church that so eloquently proclaims its dignity, and
the glorious destiny that awaits it ! He is a tyrant, and
a tyrant is ever an impudent calumniator. The Church
warns us of the dangers to which the body exposes the
soul; she tells us of the infectious weakness that came to

the flesh by original sin; she instructs us as to the means
we should employ for making it ‘serve justice unto

sanctification ’;* but far from forbidding us to love the

body, she reveals to us a truth which should incite us to
true charity, namely, that it is destined to endless glory
and happiness.
When laid on the bed of death, the
Church honours it with the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction, fitting it for immortality by anointing it with
holy oil; she is present at the departure of the soul from
this the companion

of her combats, and from which she

is to be separated till the day of the general judgement;

she respectfully burns incense over the body when dead;
for, from the hour of its Baptism, she has regarded it as
something holy; and to the surviving friends of the
* Rom.vi 19.

THURSDAY

IN EASTER

WEEK

239

departed one, she addresses these inspired words of
consolation: ‘Be not sorrowful, even as others, who
But what is this hope ? That same
have no hope I’*
which comforted Job: ‘In my flesh I shall see my
God.’
Thus does our holy faith reveal to us the future glory
of our body; thus does it encourage, by supernatural
motives, the instinctive love borne by the soul for this
essential portion of our being. It unites together the
two dogmas: our Lord’s Pasch, and the resurrection of
our body. The Apostle assures us of the close relation
that exists between them, and says: ‘ If Christ be not
risen again, your faith is vain; if the dead rise not again,
neither is Christ risen again:’? so that Jesus’ Resurrection
and our resurrection seem to be parts of one and the same

truth. Hence the sort of forgetfulness, which is nowadays so common, of this important dogma of the
‘ resurrection of the body,’ is a sad proof of the decay of
lively faith. Such people believe in a future resurrection,
for the Creed is too explicit to leave room for doubt; but
the hope which Job had is seldom the object of their
thoughts or desires. They say that what they are
anxious about, both for themselves and for those that
are dear to them, is what will become of the soul after
this life: they do well to look to this; but they should
not forget what religion teaches them regarding the
resurrection of the body; by professing it, they not
only have a fresh incentive to virtue, but they also

render testimony to the Resurrection of Jesus, whereby

he gained victory over death, both for himself and for
us. They should remember that they are in this world

only to confess, by their words and actions, the truths
that God has revealed. It is therefore not enough that
they believe in the immortality of the soul; the resurrection of the body must also be believed and professed.
We find this article of our holy faith continually
represented in the catacombs: its several symbols
formed, together with the Good Shepherd, quite the
i 1 Thess.iv 12.
*xCorxv14, 17,

PASCHAL

240

TIME

favourite subject of primitive Christian art. In those
early ages of the Church, when to receive Baptism was
to break entirely with the sensuality of previous habits
of life, this consoling dogma of the resurrection of the
body was strongly urged upon the minds of the neophytes.
Any of them might be called upon to suffer martyrdom:
the thought of the future glory that awaited their flesh
inspired them with courage when the hour of trial came.
Thus we read so very frequently in the Acts of the
Martyrs, how, when in the midst of their most cruel
torments, they declared that what supported them was

the certain hope of the resurrection of the body. How
many Christians are there nowadays who are cowardly
in the essential duties of their state of life, simply
because they never think of this important dogma of
their faith !
The

soul is more

than

the body; but the body is an

essential portion of our being. It is our duty to treat it
If
with great respect, because of its sublime destiny.
we at present chastise it and keep it in subjection, it is

because

its

present

state

requires

‘We chastise it because we love it.

such

treatment.

The martyrs and all

the saints loved their bodies far more than does the
most sensual voluptuary: they, by sacrificing it, saved it;
he, by pampering it, exposes it to eternal suffering.

Let

us be on our guard: sensualism is akin to naturalism.
Sensualism will have it that there is no happiness for the

body but such as this present life can give; and with this
principle its degradation causes no remorse. Naturalism
is that propensity we have to judge of everything by mere
natural light, whereas we cannot possibly know the
glorious future for which God has created us except by
faith.
If, therefore, the Christian can see what the Son
of God has done for our bodies by the divine Resurrection
we are now celebrating, and feel neither love nor hope,
he may be sure that his faith is weak; and if he would
not lose his soul, let him

henceforth

be guided by the

word of God, which alone can teach him what he is now,

and what he is called to be hereafter.

THURSDAY

IN EASTER

WEEK:

241

MASS

At Rome, the Station is in the basilica of the twelve

Apostles.

The

neophytes

were

brought,

to-day,

into

the church dedicated to the witnesses of the Resurrection,

where repose the bodies of two out of the twelve: St

Philip and St James the Less. In the Mass, frequent
allusions are made to the apostolic labours of these
heralds of our risen Jesus; they preached his Name
throughout the world, and all ages shall hear their
teachings.
MASS

The Introit is taken from

the Book

of

Wisdom.

It tells us of the heavenly eloguence of the Apostles,

who, at first, were dumb and timid as little children.
Divine wisdom changed them into other men, so that

they everywhere published the victory of the Man-God.
INTROIT

Victricem manum tuam,
Domine, laudaverunt _pariter, alleluia: quia Sapientia
aperuit os mutum, et linguas infantium fecit disertas. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps.

Cantate

Domino

can-

ticum
novum:
quia mirabilia fecit.
¥. Gloria Patri.
Victricem.

They praised with one accord thy victorious hand, O
Lord, alleluia: for wisdom
hath opened the mouth of the
dumb, and made the tongues
of infants eloquent. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Ps. Sing to the Lord a new
song: for he hath done wonderful things. ¥. Glory, etc.
They praiscas ete,

The Collect alludes to the effect produced by the
preaching of the Apostles—the union of all nations
into one family. The neophytes, by their Baptism,
have been admitted into this great unity : the Church
prays that God would preserve them in it, by his grace.
COLLECT

Deus, qui diversitatem
O God, who hast united
gentium in_confessione tui various nations in the confesNominis adunasti: da ut sion of thy Name: grant that
renatis fonte baptismatis una they who have been born again
16

242
PASCHAL TIME
sit fides mentium, et pietas by the water of Baptism, may
have the same faith in their
actionum. Per Dominum.
hearts, and the same piety in
their actions. Through, etc.
Then

is added one of the two Collects given in

yesterday’s Mass, p. 218.

EPISTLE

Lectio

Actuum Apostolorum.
Cap. VIII.
In diebus illis: Angelus
Domini locutus est ad Philippum, ~dicens: Surge et
vade contra meridianum ad
viam, qua descendit ab Jerusalem in Gazam: hzc est
deserta. Etsurgensabiit. Et
ecce vir ZEthiops, eunuchus
potens
Candacis
regina
Zthiopum, qui_erat super
omnes gazas ejus, venerat
adorare in Jerusalem: et
revertebatur
sedens
super
currum
suum, legensque
Isaiam
prophetam. Dixit
autem
Spiritus
Philippo :
Accede, et adjunge te ad
currum istum.
Accurrens
autem
Philippus,
audivit
eum legentem Isaiam prohetam, et dixit: Putasne
intelligis qua legis? Qui
ait: Et quomodo
possum, si
non aliquis ostenderit mihi ?
Rogavitque _Philippum ut
ascenderet, et sederet secum.
Locus autem Scriptura quam
legebat, erat hic: Tanquam
ovis ad occisionem ductus
est: et sicut agnus coram
tondente se, sine voce, sic
non _aperuit os suum. In
humilitate _judicium _ ejus
sublatum est.
Generationem
ejus quis enarrabit, quoniam

Lesson from the Acts of the
Apostles.
Ch. VIIIL
In those days: An angel of
the Lord spoke to Philip saying: Arise, go towards the
south, to the way
that
goeth
down'from Jerusalem to Gaza:
this is deserf. And rising up he
went.
And behold a man of
Ethiopia, an eunuch of great
authority
under Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who
had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem
to adore. And he was return-

A’ Phillp running
thither, heard him reading the
prophet Isaias, and he said:
Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest ?
Who said: And how can I, unless some man show me ? and he
desired Philip that he would
come up and sit with him. ~ And
the place of the Scripture which
he was reading was this: ‘ He
was led as a sheep to the slaughter: and like a_lamb without
voice before his shearer, so
opened he not his mouth. In
humility his _judgement was
takenaway. Hisgeneration
who
shall declare, for his life shall

THURSDAY IN EASTER WEEK: MASS

tolletur de terra vita ejus ?
Respondens autem eunuchus
Philippo, dixit: Obsecro te,
de quo propheta dicit hoc ?
de se, an de alio_aliquo ?
Aperiens autem Philippus
©s suum, et incipiens a Scritura ista, evangelizavit illi
esum. Et dum, irent per
viam, venerunt ad quamdam
aquam: et ait eunuchus:
Ecce aqua, quid prohibet
me baptizari ? Dixit autem
Philippus: Si credis ex toto
corde, licet. Et respondens
ait: Credo Filium Dei_esse
Jesum Christum. Et jussit
stare
currum:
et
descenderunt uterque in aquam,
Philippus et eunuchus, et
baptizavit eum. Cum autem
ascendissent de aqua, Spiritus Domini rapuit Phili
pum, et amplius non vidit
eum eunuchus. Ibat autem
per viam suam gaudens. Phiippus autem inventus est in
Azoto, et pertransiens evangelizabat civitatibus cunctis,
donec _veniret
Casaream,
nomen Domini Jesu Christi.

243

be taken from the earth?’ And
the eunuch answering Philip,
said: I beseech thee, of whom
doth the prophet speak this ? of
himself, or of some other man ?
Then Philip opening his mouth,
and beginning at this Scripture,
preached unto him Jesus. And
as they went on their way, they

came

to

a certain

water;

and

the eunuch said: See, here
is water, what doth hinder me
from being baptized ? _ And
Philip said: If thou believest
with all thy heart, thou mayest;
And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God.~ And he commanded the chariot to stand still:
and they went down into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And
when they were come up out of

the water, the Spirit of the
Lord took away Philip, and the
eunuch saw him no more. And
he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found in Azotus, and passing through, he
preached the Gospel to all the
Cities till he came to Cesarea.

The Church, by this passage from the Acts of the
Apostles, would remind her neophytes of the sublime
grace of their Baptism, and under what condition

they have been regenerated. God put the opportunity
of salvation in their path, as he sent Philip to the eunuch.
He gave them

a desire to know the truth, in the same

faith of Christ.

This pagan, had he chosen, might have

manner as he inspired this servant of Queen Candace
to read what was to occasion his being instructed in the
received the instructions of God’s messenger with mis-

trust and indifference, and so have resisted the grace
that was offered him; but no, he opened his heart, and
faith filled it. Our neophytes did the same; they were
docile,

and

God’s

word

enlightened them;

they

went

244

PASCHAL TIME

on from light to light, until at length the Church recognized them as true disciples of the faith. Then came
the feast of the Pasch, and this mother of souls said to

herself:

‘Lo here is water—the water that purifies, the

water that issued from Jesus’ side when opened by the
spear: what hinders them from being baptized ””

Having

confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they were
baptized, as was the Ethiopian of our Epistle, in the
life-giving waters: like him, they are about to continue
the

journey

of life, rejoicing,

for they

are risen with

Christ, who has graciously vouchsafed to associate the

joy of their new birth with that of his own triumph.
GRADUAL

Hzc dies quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus et lmtee in ea.
. Lapidem quem reprobaverunt wdifeantes, hic
factus est in caput anguli: a
Domino_factum est istud, et
est mirabile in oculis nostris.
Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. Surrexit Christus, qui
creavit omnia: et misertus
est humano generi.

This is the day which the
Lord hath made: let us be
glad and rejoice therein.
¥. The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is
become the head of the corner:
this is the Lord’s doing, and it
is wonderful in our eyes.
Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. Christ is risen, who created all things, and hath
shown mercy to mankind.

The Sequence, Victime Paschali, p. 145.
GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Joannem.
Cap. XX.
In illo tempore: Maria stabat ad monumentum foris,
plorans. Dum crgo fleret,
clinavit se, et prospexit
in
monumentum: et vidit duos
angelos in albis sedentes,
unum ad caput, et unum ad
pedes, ubi positum fuerat
corpus Jesu. = Dicunt ei illi:
Mulier, ‘quid ploras ? Dicit

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John.
Ch.
At

that

XX.

time:

Mary

stood

at the sepulchre without, weeping. Now as she was weeping,
she stooped down, and looked
into the sepulchre: and she saw
two angels in white sitting one
at the head, and one at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had
been laid. They say to her:
Woman, why weepest thou?

THURSDAY

IN EASTER

eis: Quia tulerunt Dominum meum: et nescio ubi
posuerunt

eum.

Hazc

cum

dixisset, conversa est retrorstanet vidit Jesum
sum,

tem! et non sciebat quia
Jesus est. Dicit ei Jesus:
Mulier, quid ploras ? “quem
queris ? 1lla existimans quia
hortulanus esset, dicit ei:
Domine, si tu sustulisti eum,
dicito mihi ubi posuisti eum
et ego cum tollam. Dicit ei
Jesus: Maria. Conversa illa,
dicit ei: Rabboni (quod dicitur magister). Dicit ei
Jesus: Noli me tangere,
nondum enim ascendi ad
Patrem meum. Vade autem
ad fratres meos, et dic eis:
Ascendo ad Patrem meum ot
Patrem vestrum, Deum meum et Deum vestrum.
Venit

WEEK:

MASS

245

She saith to them : Because they
have taken away my Lord, and
I kunow not where they have
laid him. When she had thus
said, she turned herself back,
and saw Jesus standing; and
she knew not that it was Jesus.
Jesus saith to her: Woman,
Why weepest thou ? whom seekestthou ? She thinking that it
was the gardener, saith to him:
Sir, if thou hast taken him
hence, tell me where thou hast
laid him: and I will take him
away. Jesussaith to her: Mary,
She, turning, saith to him:
Rabboni (which is to say,
Master). Jesus saith toher: Do
not touch me, for I am not yet
ascended to my Father: but go
to my brethren, and say to
them: I ascend fo my Father,
and to your Father, to my God.
and your God. Mary Magda-

Maria Magdalene annuntians discipulis: quia vidi len cometh, and telleth the disDominum, et hzc dixit mihi. ciples: I have seen the Lord,
and these things he said to me.
To-day’s

Station

is in the

basilica

of the

twelve

Apostles; and, instead of putting before us any of the
apparitions related by the Gospel as having been made
to his Apostles by our Saviour, after his Resurrection,
the Church reads to us the one wherewith Magdalen
was honoured.
Why thus apparently forget the very
heralds and ambassadors of the New Law?
The
reason is obvious.

By thus honouring her, whom

our

Lord selected as the Apostle of his Apostles, the Church

would put before us, in their full truth, the circumstances

of the day of the Resurrection. It was through Magdalen and her companions that the apostolate of the
grandest mystery of our Jesus’ life upon earth began;
they have every right, therefore, to be honoured to-day
in the basilica which is sacred to the holy Apostles.
God is all-powerful, and delights in showing himself
in that which is weakest ; he is infinitely good and glorious

PASCHAL TIME

246

in rewarding such as love him. This explains how it
was that our Jesus gave to Magdalen and her companions the first proofs of his Resurrection, and so
promptly consoled them. They were even weaker than
the Bethlehem shepherds; they were, therefore, the
The Apostles themobjects of a higher preference.
were

selves

weaker

than

the

of the

weakest

earthly

powers they were to bring into submission; hence, they
too were initiated into the mystery of Jesus’ triumph.

But

Magdalen

and

her

companions

their

had loved

Master even to the Cross and in his tomb, whereas the

Apostles had abandoned him; they therefore had a
better claim than the Apostles to Jesus’ generosity,
and richly did he satisfy the claim.
consider the sublime spectacle
Let us attentively
of the Church receiving the knowledge of that mystery,

which is the basis of her faith, the Resurrection. = After
Mary—in whom the light of faith never waned, and to
whom,

as the sinless Mother, was due the first mani-

festation—who were the first to be illumined with that
faith whereby the Church lives? Magdalen and her
companions.

For

several

this

hours,

was

the

°‘little

flock” on which Jesus looked with complacency: little,
indeed,

and weak

in the world’s estimation,

as being the noblest work of grace.
and

the

Apostles

will be added

but grand,

Yet a short time,

to the

number;

yea,

the whole world will form a part of this elect group.
The Church now sings these words in every country
of the earth:

‘ Tell us, O Mary ! what thou sawest on

the way!”
And Mary Magdalen tells the Church the
mystery: ‘ I saw the sepulchre of Christ, and the glory

of him that rose.”

Nor must we be surprised that women were the first

to form, around the Son of God, the Church of believers,

the Church resplendent with the brightness of the Resur-

rection: it is the continuation of that divine plan,

the

commencement of which we have already respectfully
It was by woman that the work of God was
studied.
marred in the beginning; he willed that it should be

THURSDAY

IN EASTER

WEEK:

MASS

247

repaired by woman. On the day of the Annunciation,
we found the second Eve making good by her own
obedience the disobedience of the first; and now, at
Easter, God honours Magdalen and her companions
in preference even to the Apostles. We repeat it:
these facts show us not so much a personal favour conferred upon individuals, as the restoration of woman
to her lost dignity. ‘The woman,’ says St Ambrose,
“ was the first to taste the food of death;

she is destined

to be the first witness of the Resurrection. By proclaiming this mystery, she will atone for her fault;*
therefore is it that she, who heretofore had announced

sin to man, was sent by the Lord to announce the tidings
of salvation to men, and to make known to them his
grace.”* Others of the holy Fathers speak in the same
strain. They tell us that God, in the distribution of the
gifts of his grace, gives woman the first place. And in
what happened at the Resurrection, they recognize not
merely an act of the supreme will of the Master, but,
moreover, a well-deserved reward for the love Jesus met

with from these humble women; a love which he did not

receive from his Apostles, though he had treated them,

for the last three years of his life, with every mark of
intimacy and affection, and had every right to expect
them to be courageous in their devotedness towards him.
Magdalen stands as a queen amidst her holy companions. She is most dear to Jesus; she has loved him
more than did all the rest of his friends; she has been
more heart-broken

more

earnest

at seeing him suffer; she has been

in paying

of her buried Master.

honour

to the

sacred

Body

She is well-nigh beside herself,

until she has found him; and when she at length meets

\

him and finds Jesus himself, still living, and still
of love for Magdalen, she could die for very joy!
would show him her delight, but Jesus checks
saying: Touch me not ! for I am not yet ascended to
Father |

full
She
her,
my

Jesus is nolonger subject to the conditions of mortality.
* In Lucam, cap. xxiv.
* De Spiritu Sancto, cap. xil.

248

PASCHAL TIME

True, his human will be eternally united with his divine
nature;

but his Resurrection tells the faithful soul that

his relations with her are no longer the same as before.

During his mortal life, he suffered himself to be approached as man; there was little in his exterior to
indicate

his

divinity;

but

now

his

eternal

splendour

gleams through his very Body, and bespeaks the Son
of God. Henceforth, then, we must see him with the

heart rather than with the eye, and offer him a respectful
love, rather than one of sentiment, however tender.

He

allowed Magdalen to touch him so long as she was
weak in her conversion, and he himself was mortal;
but now she must aspire to that highest spiritual good,

which is the life of the soul—Jesus, in the bosom of the

In her first estate, Magdalen is the type of
Father.
the soul when commencing its search after Jesus. But
her love needs a transformation: it is ardent, but not
wise; so that the angel has to chide her: ‘ Why,” says

he, ‘seekest thou the living among the dead ?’*

The

time is come for her to ascend to something more perfect,
and seek in spirit him who is Spirit.

Jesus says to Magdalen: I am not yet ascended to
my Father! as though he would say: ‘ The mark of
love thou wouldst show me is not what I now wish
to receive from thee. When I have ascended into
heaven, and thou art there with me, the sight of my

human nature shall be no obstacle to thy soul’s vision
of my divinity: then thou shalt embrace me!" Magdalen takes in the lesson of her dear Master; she loves
him more, because her love is spiritualized.
Ascension,

she retires

into the koly

cave.*

After his

There

she

lives, pondering upon all the mysteries of her Jesus’
life. Her love feeds on the memory of all he has done
for her, from his first word which converted her, to

the favour he showed her on the morning of his Resur-

rection.
Each day she advances in the path of
perfect love. The angels visit and console her. Her
probation completed, she follows her Jesus to heaven,
& St Luke xxiv 5.
* Called La sainte Basume, near Marscilles.

I

THURSDAY

IN EASTER

WEEK:

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249

where she lavishes on him the ardour of her love in an

unrestrained and eternal embrace.
‘The Offertory alludes to the land flowing with milk and
honey, into which the preaching of the Apostles has led

But the altar, whereon the holy Sacrifice
our neophytes.
is now being offered, will give them a still more delicious

nourishment.

OFFERTORY

In die solemnitatis vestr2, Gicit Dominus, inducam vos in terram fluentem
lac et mel, alleluia.

In
pity,
bring
with

the day of your solemsaith the Lord, I will
you into a land flowing
milk and honey, alleluia.

In the Secret, the Church beseeches God to accept
the gifts presented him by his new people. The bread

will be changed, by the words of Consecration, into a
food that will fortify them in their journey towards that

heavenly country.

SECRET

Suscipe, quasumus Domine, munera populorum
tuorum propitius: ut confessione tui nominis, et
baptismate renovati, sempiternam beatitudinem consequantur. Per Dominum.

Graciously accept, we beseech thee, O Lord, the offerings of thy people: that bein
renewed by the confession of
thy name, and by Baptism,
they may obtain everlasting
bliss. Through, etc.

To this is added one of the two Secrets given in yesterday’s Mass, p. 224.

In the Communion Anthem, it is the Apostolic College
that speaks by the mouth of St Peter to the newly

made

children

of God.

With

paternal

affection,

the

Apostles congratulate our neophytes on the favours
they have received from God, the author of light.
COMMUNION

Populus acquisitionis, annuntiate virtutes ejus, alleIuia: qui vos de tenebris vocavit in admirabile lumen
suum, alleluia.

Ye, who are a purchased
prlz, publish his might, alleluia: it is he who hath called
you from darkness to his wonderful light, alleluia.

250

PASCHAL

TIME

The Postcommunion tells us of the grand effects
produced in us by this adorable Sacrament.
It enriches
us with every blessing; it is our support during this life’s
pilgrimage; and it gives us a foretaste of heaven, even in
our exile.
POSTCOMMUNION

Exaudi, Domine, preces
nostras : ut redemptionis
nostre sacrosancta commercia, et vite nobis conferant
prasentis auxilium, et gaudia _sempiterna concilient.
Per Dominum.
To

this is added

Graciously hear our prayers,
O Lord, that by frequenting
these sacred mysteries of our
redemption, we may obtain
the necessary helps of this
life, and the endless joys of
the next. Through, etc.

one of the Postcommunions

in yesterday’s Mass, p. 225.

given

The work of the Son of God, the creation, advances

towards completion.

in the

waters

and

To-day there appear living beings

in the air.

Countless

varieties of

fishes sport in the sea; and the thrilling melody of birds

breaks that solemn silence, which hitherto had nothing

to disturb it save the wind rustling amidst the trees.
Here, again, the visible is the type of the invisible.

The

waters of Baptism are to give birth to other fishes; and
from

this our earth, souls, like birds of heaven,

soar aloft on the wings of contemplation.

are to

This shall

be, when the Creator shall come, in human form, into
the world he is now forming.
As our prayer of thanks-

giving for this fifth day of the creation, let us use the
following

breviary :

beautiful

one,

taken

CAPITULA

from

the

Mozarabic

Deus qui in_operatione
O God, who, on the fifth
quinti diei reptilia anima- day, didst create the fishes of
rum vivarum, homines sci- the Sea, the figure of them that
licet renovatos per sacra- are regenerated by the sacramentum Baptismatis, condi- ment of Baptism; and the birds
disti: et volatilia celi, ani- of the ajr, the figure of the souls
mas videlicet sanctorum ad of holy men soaring to heavsuperna volantes, manifesta enly thmgs by their dazzling

THURSDAY

251
virtues: grant that we may receive from thy Resurrection
a consolation which may make
us invincible: that thus we,
who have been regenerated by
thee to life, may, being renewed by thee, rise again to glory.

IN EASTER

virtutum luce formasti; preebe animabus nostris invictum
de
tua
resurrectione
solatium: ut per te renovati
resurgamus ad_gloriam, per
quem regenerati sumus ad
vitam.

WEEK

As the Liturgy of to-day speaks to us of Mary Mag-

dalen, we will insert here two of the many sequences
composed in her honour during the Middle Ages, and
sung by our forefathers during the Easter Octave. They
are exquisite in their simplicity, and express a tender
devotion

towards

is inseparable

this favoured

from

the

mystery

penitent,

of the

whose

name

Resurrection,

and who was so dear to our blessed Lord that he chose
her to be the first to announce to the Apostles and mankind the tidings of his victory over death.
FIRST SEQUENCE

Surgit Christus cum trophao,
Jam ex agno factus leo
Solemni victoria.
Mortem vicit sua morte,
Reseravit seram portz
Suz mortis gratia.
Hic est agnus qui pendebat,
Et in cruce redimebat
Totum gregem ovium.
Cui cum nullus condolebat,
Magdalenam consumebat
Doloris incendium.
Dic Maria quid vidisti
Contemplando crucem Christi
Vidi Jesum
spoliari,
Et in cruce sublevari
Peccatorum manibus.
Dic Maria quid vidisti
Contemplando crucem Christi
Spinis caput coronatum,
Vultum sputis maculatum,
Et plenum livoribus.

Christ, now changed from
a lamb to a lion, rises with
his trophy, the gorious conqueror.
By his death, he conquered
death: by his death, he opened
heaven's gate.
This is the lamb that hunj
upon the Cross, and redeems
the whole flock.
There was none found to
condole with him, save Magdalen, who pined with burngrief.
480l us, O Mary | what sawest thou, when looking at the
Cross of Christ ?
I saw my Jesus stripped,
and raised on the Cross, by the
hands of sinners.
Tell us, Mary, what sawest
thou, when looking at the
Cross of Christ ?
His head crowned with
thorns, his face disfigured
with spittle and blows.

252

PASCHAL

TIME

Tell us, Mary, what sawest
thou, when looking at the
Cross ?
His hands pierced, his side
wounded by a spear, and a
Hastam latus vul erare,
Vivi fontis exitum.
fount of living water gushing
from the wound.
Tell us, Mary, what sawest
Dic Maria quid vidisti
Contemplando crucem Chri- thou, when looking at the
sti
Cross ?
Quod se Patri commenHe commended himself to
davit,
his Father; he bowed down
Et quod caput inclinavit,
his head; he gave up the
Et emisit spiritum,
ghost.
Dic Maria quid fecisti
Tell us, Mary, what didst
Postquam Jesum amisisti > thou, after losing Jesus?
T kept close to his weeping
Matrem flentem sociavi,
Mother, and returned with her
Cum qua domum remeavi,
to the house: I prostrated myEt in terram me prostravi,
self on the ground, and compasEt utrumque deploravi.
sionated both Son and Mother.
Dic Maria quid fecisti,
Tell us, Mary, what didst
Postquam Jesum amisisti ? thou, after losing Jesus ?
Post unguenta comparavi,
After preparing my ointEt sepulchrum visitavi,
ments, and visiting the tomb,
Planctus meos duplicavi.
I redoubled my tears.
Dic Maria quid fecisti,
Tell us, Mary, what didst
Postquam Jesum amisisti ?
thou, after losing Jesus ?
Angelus hac dixit clare:
An_angel thus spoke to
0 Maria noli fiere;
me: ‘ Weep not, Mary! For
Jam surrexit Christus vere.
Christ hath truly risen.’
Dic Maria quid fecisti
Tell us, Mary,
what
didst
Postquam Jesum amisisti ? thou, after losing Jesus ?
Certe multis argumentis,
I saw many proofs and signs
Vidi signa resurgentis
of the Resurrection of the Son
Filii omnipotentis.
of God.
Dic nobis Maria
Tell us, Mary, what sawest
Quid vidisti in via ?
thou on the way ?
Sepulchrum
Christi viT saw the sepulchre of the
ventis
living Christ; I saw the glory
Et gloriam vidi resurgentis. of him that had risen.
Angelicos testes,
1 saw the angels that were
the witnesses; I saw the windSudarium et vestes.
ing-sheet and ‘the cloths.
Surrexit Christus spes mea,
Christ,my hope, hath risen|He
shall go before you into Galilee.
Pracedet suos in Galilzam.
Credendum est magis soli It behoves us to believe the
Mariz veraci,
single testimony of the truthQuam Judzorum ' turba fal- ful Mary, rather than the whole
wicked host of the Jews.
laci.
Dic Maria quid vidisti
Contemplando crucem Christi
Clavos manus erforare,

THURSDAY
Scimus

isse

Christum

IN EASTER

surrex-

A mortuis vere;
Tu nobis, victor rex, miserere.
Amen.

SECOND

WEEK

253
We know that Christ hath
truly risen from the dead. Do
thou, O Conqueror and King !
have mercy upon us.
Amen.

SEQUENCE

Mane prima Sabbati
Surgens Filius Dei,
Nostra spes et gloria.
Victo rege sceleris,
Rediit ab inferis,
Cum summa victoria.
Resurgentis itaque
Maria Magdalene
Facta est
prenuntia.
Ferens Christi fratribus
Ejus morte tristibus,
Exspectata gaudia.
O beati oculi,
Quibus regem szculi,

Early on the Sunday morning the Son of God, our hope
and glory, rose from the dead.
He conquered the prince of
wickedness, and returned from
limbo with all the glory of his
victory upon him.
The’ first herald of his Resurrection was Mary Magdaen.
She bore the glad tidings
to the disciples, who were sad
for the death of Jesus.
Blessed the eyes that first
beheld the King of Ages, after

Primum

This is she, who threw herself at Jesus' feet, and had all
her sins washed away by his
grace.
She weeps and prays; her
life proclaims what her heart
most loves—Jesus above all
else.
She knows him
before
whom she kneels. What she
prays for is at once granted—
the forgiveness of the sins that
weighed her down with fear.
O Mary ! thou loving mother |
Thou hast deserved thy name
of star of the sea, because of
thy holy deeds.
Thou sharest the name with
the Mother of Christ, though
thy honours are not as hers.
She is the Queen of the
world; Magdalen is the favoured sinner: they gave to
the Church her earliest joy.

Morte jam deposita,

est intuita !

Hzec est illa femina,
Cujus cuncta crimina
Ad Christi vestigia
Ejus lavit gratia.
Qua dum plorat et mens
orat,
Facto clamat quod cor amat,
Jesum super omnia.
Non_ignorat quem adoTat,
Quod precatur jam deletur,
Quod mens timet conscia.
O Maria, mater pia,
Stella maris appellaris,
Operum per merita.
Matri Christi cozquata,
Dum fuisti sic vocata,
Sed honore subdita.
Tlla mundi imperatrix,
Ista beata peccatrix:
Latitie primordia
Fuderunt in Ecclesia.

he had laid death

aside !

254

PASCHAL TIME

Illa enim fuit porta,
Per quam salus est exorta:
Hec resurgentis nuntia
Mundum replet ltitia.

The blessed Mother was the
gate through which salvation
came into the world; Magdalen was the messenger of the
Resurrection,

and

filled

the

world with Gy at its tidings.
Magdalen, our
Hear,

O Maria Magdalena,
Audi vota laude plena,
ayer ' and praise; pray to
Apud
Christum
chorum greuns for the choir that thus
sings to thee, and draw down
istum
his mercy upon us,
Clementer concilia.
Ut fons summa pietatis
That the Fount of infinite
goodness, who cleansed_thes
Qui te lavit peccati,
ervos suos atque tuos
rom thy sins, may purify us
by his pardon, for we are his
Mundet data venia.
and thy servants.
Amen dicant omnia !
Let all creatures say, Amen |

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Hac dies quam fecit Dominus: cxsultemus et letemur in ea.

255

WEEK

This is the day which the
Lord hath made: let us be glad
and rejoice therein.

IGHT days ago, we were standing near the Cross,

on which died the Man of Sorrows,* abandoned by
his Father, and rejected, by a solemn judgement of the
Synagogue, as a false Messias: and lo! this is the sixth
time the sun has risen upon our earth since the voice
of the angel was heard proclaiming the Resurrection
of

this

spouse,

adorable

then

lay

Victim.

prostrate

The

Church,

before

his

the justice

widowed

of the

eternal God and Father, who ‘ spared not even his own
Son,’* because he had taken upon

himself the likeness

of sin; but now she is feasting in the sight of her Jesus’
triumph, for he bids her be exceeding glad. But if
within this glad Octave, there be one day, rather than
another,

on

which

she

should

proclaim

his

triumph,

it assuredly is the Friday; for it was on that day she saw
him ° filled with reproaches '* and crucified.

To-day, therefore, let us meditate upon our Saviour’s

Resurrection as being the zenith of his own dear glory,
and as the chief argument whereon rests our faith in

his divinity.

‘If Christ be not risen again,’ says the

Apostle, ‘ your faith is vain:’¢ but, because he is risen

again,

our faith rests on the surest

of foundations.

Our Redeemer owed it to us, therefore, that our certainty

with regard to his Resurrection should be perfect.
In
order to give this master truth such evidence as would
preclude all possibility of doubt, two things were needed:

his death was to be certified, and the proofs of his Resurrection were to be incontestable.
Jesus fulfilled both
these conditions,
¥ Isa. bii 3.

and with the most scrupulous com-

* Rom. viii 32.

iii 30.
* Lam.

+ 1Cor.xv. 17.

PASCHAL

256

TIME

pleteness. Hence his triumph over death is a fact so
deeply impressed on our minds, that even now, nineteen
hundred yearssince it happened, we cannot celebrate our

Easter without feeling a thrill of enthusiastic admiration
akin to that which the guards at his tomb experienced
when they found their Captive gone.
Yes, Jesus was truly dead.

The afternoon of Friday

was at its close, and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

took down the Body from the Cross; they gave it, stiff
and covered with blood as it was, to his afflicted Mother.

‘Who could doubt of his death ? The terrible agony of
the previous night, when his human nature shrank at

the foresight of the cup he had to drink; the treachery
of one, and the infidelity of the rest of his Apostles, which

broke his Sacred Heart; the long hours of insult and
cruelty; the barbarous scourging, which Pilate devised
as a means of softening brutal Jews to pity; the Cross,
to which he was fastened with nails that opened four
founts of Blood; the anguish of his agonizing Heart,
when he beheld his Mother at the foot of the Cross;
the

burning

the

very

thirst,

which

choked

the

throbs

of

still left; the spear that pierced his side through
Heart,

and

drew

from

it a stream

life

to

of Blood

and water—these are proofs enough that death had
made God his victim. Dear Jesus! they are now but
so many motives for us to love thy beautiful glory.

How could we, for whom thou didst suffer death, be
unmindful of the sufferings that caused it ? How could

we forget them now, for they enhance the splendour
of thy Resurrection ?
He therefore gained a true victory over death:
He appeared on the earth as a conqueror of a very
different kind from any that had hitherto been known.
Here was a fact which it was impossible to deny: a
Man, whose whole life had been spent in obscurity, was
put to death by the most cruel tortures, and amidst the
insulting shouts of his unworthy fellow-citizens. Pilate
sent to the Emperor Tiberius an official account of the
judgement and death of One, whom he represented as

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calling himself the King of the Jews.

257

What would men

think, after all this, of them that professed themselves

followers of this Jesus? The philosophers, the wits,
the slaves of the world and pleasure, would point the
finger of scorn at them, and say: ‘Lo! these are they

that adore a God who died on a Cross!" But if thxs
God rose again from the grave, is not his death an evidence of his divinity ?

He died, and

he rose again;

he foretold his death and his Resurrection; who but a
God could thus hold in his power ‘the keys of death
and hell '2*
Yet so it was: Jesus was put to death, and rose again
from the grave. How do we know it?
By the testimony of his Apostles; they saw him after he had risen,
they touched him, they conversed with him for forty

days. But are these Apostles to be credited ? Surely
they are, for never was there a testimony that bore such
internal evidence of truth. What interest could these
men have in publishing the glory of their Master, who
hadbeen put to a death that brought ignominy both upon
himself and them, if they knew that he never rose again,

as he had promised he would ? The chief priests bribed
the soldlets to say that while they were asleep his disciples, poor timid men as they were, came during the
night

and

stole

this to throw
Apostles. But

away

the

Body.

They

thought

discredit upon the testimony
what folly! We may justly

by

of the
address

to them the sarcastic words of St Augustine: ‘ What !
do you adduce sleeping witnesses ? Surely, you yourselves must have been asleep, to have had recourse to
such a scheme as this!’* But, as for the Apostles,

what motive could they have for preaching the Resurrection, if it never took place ? ‘ In such a supposition,”
says St John Chrysostom, ‘they would have looked
upon their Master as a false prophet and an impostor:
and is it likely they would go and defend him against
the accusations of a whole nat\on? Would they expose themselves to all manner of suffering for One who
+ Apoc. i 18,
+ Enarrat, in Psalm. Ixiii,
17

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What was there to
had so cruelly deceived them?
encourage them in such an undertaking ? The rewards
But if he had not fulfilled
he had promised them?
his promise of rising again, how could they trust to
the rest of his promises ?’* No: we must either deny
every principle of nature and common sense, or we
must acknowledge the testimony of the Apostles to
be a true one.
Moreover, this testimony was the most disinterested
that could be, for it brought nothing but persecution

and death upon them that gave it. It was a proof that
God was with such men as these, who, but a few hours

before, had been timid cowards, and now were fearless

of every danger, asserting their conviction with an
intrepidity which human courage could never inspire,
and this too in cities which were very centres of civilization and learning. The world was made to listen to
their testimony, which they confirmed by miracles;
and thousands of every tongue and nation were converted into believers of Jesus’ Resurrection. When,
at length, these Apostles laid down their lives for the
doctrines they had preached, they left the world in
possession of the truth of the Resurrection; and the
seed they had sown in lands/where even the Roman
had not extended its conquests produced a
Empire
quick and world-wide harvest. All this gave to the
astounding fact which they proclaimed a guarantee
and a certainty beyond suspicion. It was impossible
to refuse such evidence without going against every
principle of reason. Yes, O Jesus! thy Resurrection
is as certain as thy death. Thy Apostles could never
have preached, they could never have converted the
v{gtld as they did, unless they had had truth on their

side.
But the Apostles are no longer here to give their
testimony: the equally solemn testimony of the Church
has succeeded to theirs, and proclaims, with a like
authority, that Jesus is no longer among the dead. By
+ In Matt, Homil, lxxxix.

FRIDAY

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259

the Church we here mean those hundreds of millions
of Christians, who have proclaimed the Resurrection
of Jesus by keeping, for now nineteen hundred years,
the feast of the Pasch.
And can there be room for
doubt here?
Who is there that would not assent to
what has been thus attested every year since the Apostles
first announced it ? Among these countless proclaimers
of our Lord’s Resurrection, there have been thousands
of learned men, the bent of whose mind led them to sift
every truth, and who, before embracing the faith, had
examined its tenets in the light of reason;

there have

been millions of others, whose acceptance of a dogma
like this, which puts a restraint on the passions, was
the result of the conviction that the only way to eternal
happiness is in the due performance of the duties this
dogma imposes; and, fmally, there have been millions
of others, who, by their virtues, were the support and
ornament of the world but who owed all their virtues
to their faith in the death and Resurrection of Jesus.
Thus, the testimony of the Church, that is of the
wisest and best portion of mankind, is admirably united
with that of the Apostles, whom our Lord himself
appointed as his first witnesses. The two testimonies
are one. The Apostles proclaimed what they had seen;
we proclaim, and shall proclaim to the end, what the
Apostles preached. The Apostles made themselves
sure of the Resurrection, which they had to preach to
the world;

their

do we.

word.

we make

They

ourselves

believed

sure of the veracity of

after experience;

so also

They had the happiness of seeing, hearing, and

touching the Word of Life;! we see and hear the Church,

which they established throughout the world, although
it was but in its infancy when they were taken from
the earth. The Church is that tree of which Jesus spoke
in the parable, saying, that though exceeding small in its
first commencement, it would afterwards spread out its
branches far and wide.* St Augustine in one of his
Easter sermons has these fmewords : ‘As yet, we
*StJobnir
* St Matt. xiii 31, 32; St Mark iv 31, 32.

PASCHAL TIME

260

see not Christ; but we see the Church:
us believe

in Christ.

The Apostles,

on

therefore let

the contrary,

saw Christ; but they saw not the Church except by
faith. They saw one thing, and they believed another:
so, likewise, let us do.

Let us believe

in the

Christ,

whom as yet we see not; and by keeping ourselves with
the Church which we see, we shall come at length to see
him, whom as yet we cannot see.”

Having thus, O Jesus! the certainty of thy glorious
Resurrection,as well as that of thy death on the Cross,
we confess thee to be the great God, the Creator and
sovereign Lord of all things. Thy death humbled, thy
Resurrection exalted thee: but thou thyself wast the
author of both the humiliation and the exaltation.
Thou saidst to thine enemies: ‘ No man taketh my life
away from me; but I lay it down of myself; and I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up
again.””

None but a God could have such power, none

but a God could have exercised it as thou hast done:
we,

therefore,

confess

thy

are

confessing

Resurrection.

We

thy

divinity

beseech

when

thee,

we

make

worthy of thine acceptance this humble and delighted
homage of our faith !

In Rome, the Station is at the church of St Mary
ad Martyres.
It was the ancient pantheon of Agrippa,

and had been dedicated to all the false gods; it was
given by the Emperor Phocas to St Boniface 1V, who
consecrated it to the Mother of God and all the martyrs.
It is not known where to-day’s Station was held previously to the seventh century, when this church was
chosen. ‘The neophytes were thus assembled, for the
second time within the Octave, in a temple dedicated
to Mary: it would show them how much the Church
desired to inspire them with confidence in her who had
become their mother, and whose office it is to lead to her
Son all those whom

he calls by his grace to become his

brethren.
+ Sermo, coxxxvill. In diebus Paschalibus, x.

2 St John x 18.

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261

MASS
The Introit, which is taken from the Psalms, reminds

the neophytes of the passage through the Red Sea, and
how its waters were gifted with the power of delivering
the Israelites. The Church continually alludes to this
great event, during the whole Paschal Octave.
INTROIT

Eduxit eos Dominus in
The Lord hath brought them
spe, alleluia:
et inimicos forth in hope, alleluia: and
eorum _operuit mare. Alle- the sea hath covered their eneluia, allefuia, alleluia.
mies. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Attend, O my people,
P5. Attendite, popule meus,
legem meam: inclinate aurem to my law: incline your ears
vestram in verba_oris mei. to the words of my mouth.
¥. Gloria Patri. Eduxit.
¥. Glory, etc. The Lord, etc.
The Pasch is the reconciliation of man with God, for

the Father can refuse nothing to such a conqueror as
our risen Jesus, his Son. In her Collect, the Church prays
that we may ever show ourselves worthy of such a covenant,

by faithfully living up to the mystery of the Paschal
regeneration.

COLLECT

Omnipotens _ sempiterne
0 almighty and eternal God,
Deus, qui Paschale Sacra- who hast instituted this Pasmentum in _reconciliation
chal mystery in the covenant
humanz _ feedere _contulisti: of the reconciliation of manda mentibus nostris, ut quod kind; assist us with thy holy
professione celebramus, imi- grace, that what we profess in
temur effectu. Per Domi- this solemnity, we may practise
num.
in cur lives. ~ Through, etc.
Tothisis added one of the Collects given in Wednesday's

Mass, p. 218.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistol® beati Petri
Apostoli.
I Cap. IIL.

Lesson of the Epistle of St
Peter the Apostle.
I Ch. IIL.

Pro peccatis mostris mortu-

once for our sins, the just for

Charissimi,

Christus

semel

Dearly

beloved:

Christ

died

PASCHAL TIME
‘262
us est, justus pro injustis, the unjust; tkat he might offer
to God, being put to death
ut nos’ offerret Deo, mortifi- usindeed
in the flesh, but enlivcatus quidem carne, vivificatus_autem Spiritu. In quo ened in the spirit. In which also
et his, qui in carcere erant, coming, he preached to those
spiritibus veniens _pradica- spirits that were in prison;
vit: qui increduli - fuerant which had been some time in.
aliquando, _quando _exspe- credulous, when they waited
ctabant Dei patientiam in for the patience of God in the
diebus Noe, cum fabricare- days of Noe, when the ark was
tur arca: in qua pauci, id a building: wherein a few, that
est octo anima salve factz is, eight souls, were saved by
sunt per aquam. Quod et water, Whereunto Baptism beforma sal- ing of the like form, now savvos nunc_similis
vos facit baptisma: non car- eth you also: not the putting
nis depositio sordium, sed away of the filth of the flesh,
conscientiz bonz interroga- but the examination of a good
tio in Deum, per Resurre- conscience towards God by the
ctionem Jesu Christi Domi- Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
ni nostri, qui est in dextera who is on the right hand of
od.
Dei.
Again it is the Apostle St Peter who speaks to us,
and his instructions are of peculiar interest to our neo-

phytes.
our

He begins by telling them how

Redeemer

descended

into limbo;

and

the Soul of

how,

among

the prisoners detained there, were some of those who
had perished in the deluge, yet had found salvation in

its waters.

the threats

They were at first incredulous, and despised
made

known

to them

by Noe;

but when

the flood came and swept them away, they repented
of their sin, and asked and obtained pardon. The

Apostle then goes on to speak of the favoured inhabitants of the ark; they are a type of our neophytes,
whom we have seen pass through the waters of the font,

and thereby become, as did the sons of Noe, fathers of a

new generation of children of God.

Baptism, says the

Apostle, is not like other washings of the body; it is the
cleansing of the soul, provided she be sincere in the

solemn promise she vows at the font, to be faithful to

the Christ who saves her, and to renounce Satan and all
that is his. The Apostle concludes by telling us that

the mystery of our Saviour’s Resurrection is the source

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263

of the grace of Baptism: hence the Church has chosen
the feast of Easter for the solemn administration of this
Sacrament.
GRADUAL

Hazc dies quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus et Letemur in ea.
¥. Benedictus qui venit
in’ nomine Domini:
Deus
Dominus, et illuxit nobis.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Y. Dicite in gentibus:
quia Dominus regnavit a
Tigno.

This is the day which the
Lord hath made: let us be
glad and rejoice therein.
¥. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
the Lord is God, and he hath
shone upon us.
9fleé:ia. alleluia.
:
amon, the gentitcs, that, the Lord th reigned from the Wood.

The Sequence Victime Paschali, p. 145.
GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Matthzum.

Cap. XXVIII.
In illo tempore: Undecim
discipuli abierunt in _Galilzam, in montem, ubi_constituerat illis Jesus. Et videntes eum, " adoraverunt :
uidam autem dubitaverunt.
t accedens Jesus locutus
est eis, dicens: Data est mihi
omnis potestas in ceelo, et
in terra. Euntes ergo docete
omnes gentes, baptizantes
€os in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti: docentes eos servare omnia
quacumque mandavi vobis:
et ecce ego vobiscum sum
omnibus diebus, usque ad
consummationem szculi.

Sequel of the holy Gospel
according to Matthew.
Ch. XXVIIL.
At that time: The eleven
disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus
had appointed them.
seeing him they adored: but some
doubted. And Jesus coming,
spoke to them, saying:
power is given to me in heaven
and in earth, ~ Going, amh:z
teach ye all nations:
bapti
them 1 the name of the Fa
ther, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost. Teaching
them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded
you: and behold I am with you
all days, even to the consummation of the world.

St Matthew’s description of the Restrrection is shorter
than those given by the other Evangelists; his few
brief words on Jesus’ a})pea.nng to the Apostles in
Galilee are the subject of to-day’s Gospel. It was in

264

PASCHAL

TIME

Galilee that our Lord vouchsafed to show himself not
only to the Apostles, but moreover to several other
persons. The Evangelist tells us how some of those,

that

were

thus

favoured,

readily

and

believed;

how

others doubled, before yielding the assent of their faith.
He then relates the words wherewith Jesus gave his
Apostles the mission to preach the Gospel to all nations;
and since he is to die no more, he promises to be with
But the
them for ever, even to the end of the world.

Apostles are not to live to the end of the world: how,
then,

will he fulfil his promise ?

The

said before, are perpetuated by the
testimonies—of the Apostles and of
inseparably linked together; and our
preserves this united testimony from

tion.

Apostles,

as we

Church; the two
the Church—are
Lord Jesus Christ
error or interrup-

The Liturgy of to-day brings before us a proof of

Peter, Paul and John preached
its irresistible power.
Jesus’ Resurrection, and established the Christian faith
in Rome;

five centuries after,

the Church,

which

tinued their work, received from an Emperor

con-

the gift

of the temple, which had once been consecrated to all
the false gods, but which St Peter’s successor dedicated

to Mary, the Mother of God, and to that legion of wit-

At
nesses of the Resurrection, whom we call martyrs.
the sight of this magnificent edifice, which for three

hundred years had been deserted by the pagans, but
now is reconciled by the Church, and holds within its
walls the Christian people, our neophytes could not
refrain from exclaiming: ‘Oh! truly is Christ risen,
who, after being put to death on the Cross, thus triumphs
over the Csars, and over the gods of Olympus !"
The Offertory is composed of those words of Exodus,
wherein God commands his people to celebrate each
If this were
year the anniversary of the Passover.
so for an event which was but figurative, and whose
effects did not extend beyond this life, how fervently and

joyously ought Christians to keep the anniversary of that
other Passover, whose results are to be eternal, and whose
divine reality has put an end to all the ancient figures !

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OFFERTORY

Erit vobis hac dies memoralis, alleluia: et diem festum celebrabitis solemnem
Domino_in_ progenies _vestras: legitimum sempiternum diem. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
In the Secret,

And this day shall be for a
memorial to you, alleluia: and
you shall keep it a feast to
the Lord in your generations,
with an everlasting _observance. Alleluia, alleluia, alleTuia.

the Church

beseeches

God

to accept

this present Sacrifice for the forgiveness of tke sins
of her neophytes. But how is this? Their sins have
been already effaced. It is true; their sins have been
washed

away

in

the

waters

of

Baptism;

but

God’s

foreknowledge of the Sacrifice that would now be offered
to him, led him to grant his pardon even before the
petition for mercy had really been made.
SECRET

Hostias, quasumus Domine, placatus assume: quas
et pro renatorum expiatione
peccati _deferimus, et pro
acceleratione ceelestis auxilii. Per Dominum.

Mercifully accept this sacrifice, we beseech thee, O Lord,
which we offer for the remission of their sins, who have
been regenerated; and to obtain speedily the help of thy
grace. Through, etc.

To this is added one of the Secrets given in Wednesday’s Mass, p. 224.
The Communion Anthem joyously proclaims the
command, given by our Saviour to his Apostles and
his Church, to teach all nations, and to baptize all
ple. This order is the warrant of their mission.
e use made of it by the Apostles, and continued by
Church, during these nineteen hundred years, plainly
es that he who spoke these words is still living, and
COMMUNION

t mihi omnis poteAll power is given to me
lo et in terra, alle- in heaven and in earth, allees docete omnes luia: go teach all nations, bap-

PASCHAL TIME

266
gentes,

baptizantes

Spiritus
alleluia.

Sancti.

nomine.

After

Patris,

eos

Filii,

et

in

et

Alleluia,

nourishing

tizing them in the name of the
Father,

and

of the Holy
alleluia.

her children

with

the

of

Ghost.

the

Alleluia,

Bread

eternal life, the Church, in the Postcommunion,

prays

that

they

may

receive

forgiveness

and

Son,

of

again

of the sins

which they commit in this present life, and which would
be to their everlasting perdition, were not the merits
of our Saviour’s death and Resurrection ever present
before the justice of God.
POSTCOMMUNION
Look down, we beseech thee,

give them a new life by these
cternal mysteries, grant them
also pardon of their temporal
offences. Through, etc.
To this is added one of the Postcommunions given
in Wednesday’s Mass, p. 225.
This is the sixth day of the creation. Upon it, the
hand of the Son of God formed the body of man out
of theslime of the earth, into which he breathed a living
soyl. This was the creature that was to be the king
of the visible creation. A simple command of the
divine Word had sufficed to call from the earth all the
animals that live upon it; but when, towards the close ' /|
of this great day, the Creator said, ‘ Let us make mag
to our image and likeness,’ he did more than m
command, he seems to have deliberated: he dei
to become the artificer of his work. Let us adore
his sovereign goodness towards our race, and
gratefully honour the Friday of each week, as
thg
whereon the Son of God completed the work he:
on the Sunday by the creation of him who w:
master and lord of the world. Nor is this
mystery that should make Friday dear to us.

FRIDAY

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267

on this same day that the divine Word, having taken

upon himself the flesh he himself had made, died upon
the Cross, that he might save his rebellious and lost

creature man. O sacred day! Day that didst witness
both our creation and our redemption! Thou speakest
to us of the Son of God, and of his love for us, even more

sweetly than of his power ! Let us express all this by
reciting the following devout prayer, which the Mozarabic Liturgy uses on the Friday of Easter Week:
CAPITULA
Deus, Dei Filius,
qui hominem, quem sexto
die formasti ex nihilo, sexta ztate
szculi
redemisti
sanguine
tuo: et
qui tunc bene conditus
le cecidit, nunc

melius _reformatus ~surrexit:
da
nobis,
ut ita veraciter
redemptionis nostr@ mysterium perpendamus, qualiter
in morte et resurrectionc
tua
perenniter gloriemur:
ut qui tempore salutis, mundo “occurrens, mortem nostram moriendo devicisti, ab
@terna nos liberes damnatione judicii.
To-day

O God, Son of God, who, in
the sixth age of the world
didst, by thy
Blood, redeem
man whom thou hadst formed
out of nothing, on the sixth
day, and who, though created

in goodness, fell into evil, but
has now risen regenerated unto
what is more perfect: grant
that we may so truly prize
the mystery of our redemption,
that we may for ever glory
in thy death and Resurrection:
and that thou, who, in the time
of our salvation, didst succour
the world and conquer our
death by thine own, mayst deliver us from the eternal damnation of the Judgement.

let us hearken

to the Church of Armenia
Resurrection. For thirteen centuries

celebrating the
she has sung the following

has translated, for our work,

stanzas, which

from the hymn

a confrére
book,

or

Charagan. The sentiment is the same as we find expressed in other Liturgies; but there is, moreover, the

style peculiar to the Armenian character. The reader
will be pleased with the fragrance of antiquity which
i:e wiifnd in these ve:lses, whose vigorous and solemn
lyric
beauty surpasses that of the liturgical compositions
of the Greek Church.
EE
pes

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IN RESURRECTIONE

Hodie resurrexit a mortuis sponsus immortalis et
coelestis: tibi nuntium gas
dii, o sponsa e terra Ecclesi
benedic voce exsultationis
Deum tuum, Sion.
Hodie _inenarrabile Lumen de lumine illuminayit
pueros tuos; illuminare, Jerusalem, quia resurrexit lumen tuum Christus.
Hodie tenebrz inscitiz
depuls sunt trina luce, et
tibi orta est lux scientiz,
resurgens a mortuis Christus.

Hodie Pascha
nostrum
per immolationem Christi;
peragamus festum in exsultatione, renovati nos a vetustate peccati,
dicente
Christus resurrexit a mortuis.
Hodie angelus refulgens,
e ceelis descendens, deterruit custodes, et sanctis muJieribus pradicabat _dicens:
Christus resurrexit a mortuis.
Hodie magnum nuntium
Adz protoplaste fuit datum: “Surge, qui dormis;
illuminavit
te
Christus,
Deus patrum nostrorum,
Hodie vocem nuntii ad
Evae aures sonant filiz unguentifer=: Vidimus resurrectum, resurrectionem tuam,
Christum, Deum
patrum
nostrorum.
Hodie angeli de ccelis descendentes
annuntiant
hominibus:
Resurrexit
crucifixus, et suscitavit vos se-

cum,

DOMINI

To-day, the immortal and
heavenly
Bridegroom
rosc
again from the dead | To thee
the glad tidings, O Church,
his spouse on earth! Bless
thy God, O Sion, with a joyous
voice.
To-day, the ineffable Light
of light_ enlightened thy children. Be thou enlightened,
O Jerusalem | for Christ, thy
Light, has risen.
‘o-day the darkness of ignorance is dispelled by the
triple light: and the light of
knowledge has risen ~upon
thee, it is Christ rising again
from the dead.
To-day is our Pasch, by
the sacrifice of Christ; let us
keep the feast with gladness,
being renewed from the oldmess of sin: and let us say:
Christ hath risen again from
the dead |
To-day a bright angel came
down from heaven, struck the
guards with fear, and said to
the holy women: Christ hath
risen again from the dead |
To-day the great tidings
were given to our first parent,
Adam: Arise, thou that sleepest! Christ, the God of our
fathers, hath enlightened thee.
To-day the tidings told by
her daughters, who brought
their perfumes to the tomb,
sounded in the ears of Eve:
We have seen him risen, who
is thy resurrection, Christ, the
God of our fathers.
To-day the angels came
down from heaven, saying to
men: The Crucified hath risen,
and hath raised you up with
himself.

FRIDAY

IN EASTER

Hodie Phase @rumnarum
exitus Israel commutasti in
salutis animarum Pascha,
resurrectione tua,
sancta
Christe.
sanguinibus
Hodie pro
irrationabilium
mactatorum,
us Dei, sanguinem tud
bytien
Hodie pro_primogenitorum_redemptione redemisti
captivos, primitiz_vitz dormientium, et primogenitus
mortuoram.
Hodie angeli in ceelis letantur cum hominibus, et
descendentes de ceelis ' annuntiant mundo: Exsultate;
hodie Christus resurrexit a
mortuis.
Hodie vigil secus
petram,
thuriferis sanctis mulieribu
buccinabat_voce exsultati
nis, ut referrent discipul
Exsultate; hodie Christus
resurrexit a mortuis.
Hodie Petra fidei et Johannes dilectus vice versa
currebant in monumentum
resurrecti,
quod
videntes
narrabant:
istus
resurrexit a mortuis.
Hodie nos quoque delectantes clareamus
festo hoc;
placato Deo, invicem amplectamur in amore, ac unitim
exclamemus: Christus resurrexit a mortuis.

WEEK

269

To-day, O Christ, by thy
holy Resurrection, thou didst
change the mournful Pasch of
Tsrael into the Pasch that
saves souls.
To-day thou, O Lamb of
God, didst give us thine own
saving Blood for the blood of
irrational lambs that were
slain.
To-day, in place of the
ransom of the first-born, thou,
the first-fruits of life among
them that sleep, the first-born
among the dead—didst redeem
the captives.
To-day the angels of heaven rejoice together with men;
and coming down from heaven,
they
say to the world; Be glad |
to-day Christ hath risen again
from the dead |
To-day the angel that sat
upon the rock and kept guard
spoke with a loud voice to the
holy women that had come
with their spices, and bade them
be messengers to the disciples:
Be glad | to-day Christ
isen
again from the dead |
To-day, he that is the Rock
of faith, and_John, the beloved, ran to Jésus' sepulchre,
and said, whén they saw it:
Christ hath risen again from
the dead |
To-day let us also be bright
in the joy of this feast.
God
is reconciled with us; let us
embrace each other with love,
and say with one voice: Christ
Dhath risen again from the
dead |

We are far from having exhausted the treasury of
Adam of St Victor: let us take another of his sequences.
The one we select seems the most appropriate to the
Friday of the Easter Octave.

270

PASCHAL

TIME

SEQUENCE
Sexta passus feria,

Die Christus tertia
Resurrexit;

Surgens cum victoria,
Collocat in gloria
Quos dilexit.
Pro fideli populo,
Crucis in patibulo
Immolatur;
Clauditur in tumulo,
Tandem in diluculo

Suscitatur.

Christi crux et passio
Nobis est prasidio,

Si credamus:
Christi resurrectio
Facit ut a vitio

Resurgamus.

Hostia sufficiens
Christus fuit moriens

Pro peccato;

Sanguinis effusio

Abluit nos, impio
Triumphato.

Morte sua simplici,

Nostra morti dupli
Fert medelam:
Vite pandit aditum,
Nostrum sanat gemitum
Et querelam.
Leo fortis hodie

Dat signum potentiz,
Resurgendo,
Principem_nequiti,
Per arma justitie,

Devincendo.
Diem istam Dominus
Fecit, in qua facinus
Mundi
lavit,

In qua mors occiditur,
In qua vita redditur,
Hostis ruit.

Geminatum igitur
Alleluia canitur,
Corde puro;

Christ suffered death on the
sixth day; he rose again on
the third.” By his victorious
Resurrection, he shares his own
glory with those he loves.
He is sacrificed on the gibbet of the Cross for his faithful people: he is placed in
the tomb: he rises at dawn
of day.
To them that have faith,
the Cross and Passion of Christ
are a safeguard: his Resurrection gives us to rise from
our sins.
Christ dying for sin was
our
all-sufficient
victim:
the
shedding of his Blood was our
purification, and the defeat of
our wicked ‘enemy.
Jesus' single death is the
remedy for ours that was twofold: it opens to us the way
of life, and takes away our
mourning and grief.
Now does the mighty Lion
give proof of power by rising,
and conquering the prince of
wickedness by the armour of
justice.
This is the day which the
Lord hath made, for on it the
world was cleansed of its
crimes, death was slain, life
was restored, and the enemy
defeated.
A double Alleluia, and with
a pure heart, should be sung
to-day ; for sin is taken away,

FRIDAY

Quia culpa tollitur
t vita promittitur
In futuro.
In hoc mundi vespere,
Fac tuos resurgere,
Jesu Christe;
Salufaris omnibus
Sit tuis fidelibus
Dies iste. Amen.

IN EASTER WEEK
and

life

future.

is

promised

271
for

the

O Jesus! give us, thy servants, to rise again when the
evemn of this world sets in |
present day be one
to all thy faithful.
olad

272

PASCHAL

SATURDAY

IN

TIME

EASTER

WEEK

Hzc dies quam fecit Do- _ This is the day which the
minus: exsultemus et lzte- Lord hath made: let us be
mur in ea.
glad and rejoice therein.
HE

upon

Creator’s

seventh day of the gladdest of weeks has risen

us, bringing

with

it the

memory

of the

It also

rest, after the six days of creation.

reminds us of that other rest, which this same God took

in the tomb; like a warrior, who, when sure of the
victory, calmly reposes before the final combat with the
enemy.

Our Jesus slept his rest in the sepulchre, after

permitting death to vanquish him: but when he awoke
by his Resurrection, what a victory over the tyrant !
Let us, to-day,

visit this holy sepulchre and venerate

it: it will speak to us of him we love, and make our love
the warmer.
Here, we shall say to ourselves, here

rested our dear Master, after he had died for us! Here
was the scene of the glorious victory, when he arose
again, and this, too, for us!

The prophet Isaias had said: ‘ In that day, the root

of Jesse,

shall

the

who

standeth

gentiles

be glorious.”

for an ensign

beseech;

and

his

of people,

sepulchre

The prophecy has been fulfilled.

him

shall

There

is not a nation under the sun where Jesus has not his
adorers. The tombs of other men are either destroyed,
or

they

are monuments

of death;

is everlasting, and speaks but of life.

the

tomb

of Jesus

What a sepulchre this, the sight of which fills us
with thoughts of glory, and whose praises had been

celebrated so many ages beforehand | When the fulness
of time came, God raised up in Jerusalem a holy man,
named Joseph of Arimathea, who secretly but sincerely
became one of Jesus’ disciples.
He was a rich counsellor,

xi T0.
* Isa.

SATURDAY

IN EASTER WEEK

273

or senator. He had prepared his own tomb, and the
place he chose was on the side of the hill of Calvary.
It was hewn out of the live rock, and consisted of two
cells, one serving as a sort of entry into the other.
Joseph
thought he was labouring for himself, whereas he was
preparing the sepulchre of a God. He only thought of
the debt which every man has to pay, in consequence of
Adam’s sin; but heaven had decreed that Joseph should
never lie in that tomb,

and that here should originate

man’s immortality.
Jesus had expired on the Cross, amidst the insults
of his people; the entire city had risen up against the

Son of David, whom, but a few days before, it had
hailed as its King. Then did Joseph brave the fury
of the deicides, and ask permission from the Roman
governor to be allowed the honour of burying the Body

of the

Crucified.

He

at

once

repaired

to

Calvary,

accompanied by Nicodemus, and, having taken down
the sacred corpse from the Cross, he devoutly laid it
upon the stone which he had intended as his own restingplace. He felt that it was a happiness and an honour
to give up his own tomb to the dear Master, for whom
he had not been ashamed to profess, and that in the very
court of Pilate, his devoted attachment.

Right worthy

art thou, O Joseph ! of the thanks of mankind.
wast our representative at the burial of our
And

Mary,

recompensed

too, the afflicted Mother, who was present,

thee,

in her

own

way,

for the

thou didst so willingly make for her Son.
The

Thou
Jesus.

Evangelists

circumstance

draw

sacrifice

our attention to one special

of the sepulchre.

St Matthew,

St Luke,

and St John, tell us that it was new, and that no man

had ever been laid in it.
that we must

The holy Fathers teach us

see here a mysterious

dispensation,

one of the grand glories of the holy tomb.
as they

observe,

the

resemblance

that exists

and

It marks,
between

the sepulchre, which restored the Man-God to the life
of immortality, and the virginal womb which gave

him birth that he mught be a victim for the world’s
18

PASCHAL

274

TIME

and they bid us learn from this, how God,

redemption:

when he deigns to dwell in any of his creatures, would
have the dwelling to be pure and worthy of his infinite
holiness. Here, then, is one of the glories of the holy
sepulchre—that it was an image of the incomparable
purity of the Mother of Jesus.
During the few hours that it possessed the precious
trust, where was there glory on earth like unto what
it enjoyed ? Within that silent cave, there lay, wrapt
that were bedewed

in shrouds

Body which had
angels stood in
over the corpse
adored it, in its
hour

to come

Mary’s

Hosts of holy
keeping watch
Creator; they
longed for the

ransomed the world.
that little rocky cell,
of him who was their
sleep of death; they

slain, would

fixed by the eternal decree came,

that humble

spot was made

when

this Lamb,

in power

that

tears, the

was

arise a Lion

moment

with

and majesty.

And

when

the scene of the grand prodigy;

the

Jesus

rose to life, and, swifter than lightning, passed through
An angel then rolled
the rock to the outer world.
back the stone from the entrance to the sepulchre, thus

proclaiming the departure of the divine Captive. Other
angels showed themselves to Magdalen and her companions,

when

they came to-visit it.

John were soon there.

Peter, too, and

O truly, most holy is this place !

The Son of God deigned to dwell within it; his Mother

honoured

it with her presence

and

her

tears; angels

in it ; the holiest souls on earth visited, venerated,
adored

and loved it. O sepulchre of the Son of Jesse, thou art
indeed glorious !
Hell witnesses this glory, and would fain destroy
it. The sight of this sepulchre is insufferable to Satan’s
pride, for it is the trophy of the defeat of death, the
offspring of sin. He flatters himself on having suc-

ceeded,

when

Jerusalem

is destroyed

by

the

Roman

legions, and on her ruins there rises up a new and pagan
city, called Zlia. But no! neither the name of Jerusa-

lem, nor the glory of the holy sepulchre, shall perish.
The pagans cover it with a mound of earth, on which

IN EASTER

SATURDAY
they build a temple

275

WEEK

to Jupiter; it is the same

spirit

that dictated their raising an altar to Venus on Calvary,

and

another

to Adonis

over

the cave of Bethlehem.

But all these sacrilegious efforts only serve to tell the
Christians the exact site of these several sacred places.
The pagans think by this artifice to turn the respect
and homage of the Christians from Jesus to their false
gods: here again they fail.
The Christians abstain
from visiting the holy places, as long as they are desecrated by the presence of these idols; but they keep
their eye fixed on what their Redeemer has endeared to
them, and wait in patience for the time when it shall
please the eternal Father again to glorify his Son.
The time comes.

God sends to Jerusalem a Christian

empress, mother of a Christian emperor: she is to restore

the holy places, the scenes of our Redeemer’s love.
Like Magdalen and her companions, Helen hastens
to the sepulchre. God would have it so—woman’s
privilege in all that happened on the great morning of
the

Resurrection

is to be continued

now.

Magdalen

and her companions sought Jesus; Helen, who adores
him as her risen Lord, only seeks his sepulchre: but their
love is one and the same. The piousempress orders the
temple of Jupiter to be pulled down, and the mound of
earth to be removed; which done, the trophy of Jesus’
victory once more gleams in the light of day.
The
defeat of death is again proclaimed by this resurrection
of the glorious sepulchre. A magnificent temple is
built at the expense of the imperial treasury, and is called
the basilica of the Resurrection. The whole world is
excited by the news of such a triumph; the already
tottering structure of paganism receives a shock which
hastens its destruction; and pilgrimages to the holy
sepulchre are begun by Christian people throughout the
world, forming a procession of universal homage which

is to continue to the end of time.
During the three centuries following, Jerusalem was

the holy and free city, and the sepulchre of Jesus re-

flected its glory upon her; but the East became a very

276

PASCHAL TIME

hot-bed of heresies, and God, in his justice, sent her

the

chastisement

of slavery.

The

Saracen

hordes in-

undated the land of prodigy. If the torrent of invasion
was checked, it was for a brief period, and the waters
returned with redoubled power. Meanwhile, what
Let us not fear: it
becomes of the holy sepulchre?
issafe.

The Saracens themselves look upon it with awe,

for it is, they say, the tomb of a great Prophet. True,
a tax is imposed on the Christians who visit it; but the
sepulchre is safe. One of the caliphs presented the keys

of the venerable sanctuary to the emperor Charlemagne,

hereby evincing, not only the respect he had for this
greatest

of

Christian

monarchs,

but,

moreover,

the

veneration wherein he held the sacred grotto. Thus
did our Lord’s sepulchre continue to be glorified even in
the midst of dangers which, humanly, would have
wrought its utter destruction.
Its glory shone out still more brightly, when, at the
call of the Father of Christendom, the western nations
rose up in arms, and marched, under the banner of the
Cross, to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

The love of the

holy sepulchre was in every heart, its name on every
tongue. The first engagement drove back the Saracen,
A
and left the city in possession of the crusaders.
sublime spectacle was then witnessed in the church of
the holy sepulchre; the pious Godfrey of Bouillon was
consecrated king of Jerusalem, and the holy mysteries
were celebrated, for the first time in the language and
ritual of Rome, under the oriental dome of St Helen’s
basilica. But the reign of Japheth in the tents of Sem
was of short duration, owing partly to the short-sighted
policy of the western sovereigns, which kept them from
appreciating the importance of such a conquest; and
artly to the treachery of the Greek Empire, which
betrayed the defenceless Jerusalem once more into the
hands of the Saracens. Still, the period of the Latin
kingdom in the holy city was one of the glories of Jesus’
sepulchre, foretold by Isaias.
What are to be 1ts future glories?
At present, it

SATURDAY IN EASTER WEEK

277

is profaned by the sacrifices which are offered, in its
basilica, by schismatical and heretical priests; it is
entrusted, for a few hours each year, to the Catholics
of Jerusalem, and during that brief interval it receives
the fervent homage of the true spouse of Jesus. When
will the holy sepulchre be reinstated in its honour ?
Will the nations of the West return to the fervour of
faith, and emulate the holy chivalry of the crusaders
of old?
Or will the East renounce the schism, which
has cost her her liberty;

stretch out her hand

to the

mother and mistress of all churches; and, on the rock
of the Resurrection, sign the covenant of a union, which

would be the death-warrant of Islamism ? Only God
knows: but this much he has revealed to us in sacred

Scripture, that before the end of the world, Israel will

return to the Messias he despised and crucified, and that

the glory of Jerusalem is to be restored by the Jews
who shall be converted! Then will the sepulchre of
the Son of Jesse be at the height of its glory, and soon
will this Son of Jesse himself appear. Our bodies will then
be on the eve of the general

resurrection; and thus the

final result of the Pasch will be simultaneous with the last
and greatest glory of the holy sepulchre. As we rise
from our graves, we shall fix our eyes upon our Jesus’
tomb,

and love it as the origin and source of the im-

mortality we shall then have. Until the time of our
death comes, when our bodies must be laid in the temporary prison of the grave, let us love the sepulchre
of our dear Saviour; let us be zealous for its honour;
and, imitating our forefathers in that earnest faith

which made them its defenders and soldiers, let us get

well into us that portion of the Easter spirit, which

consists in understanding and loving the glories of
Jesus’ sepulchre.
The name given in the Liturgy to this day is Saturday
in albis, or more correctly, in albis deponendis ; because

it was to-day that the neophytes were to lay aside the

white robes they had been wearing during
Rom. xi 12, and several other verses.

the whole

PASCHAL TIME

278

Octave. This Octave had, indeed, begun earlier for
them than for the rest of the faithful, inasmuch as it
was on the night of Holy Saturday that they were
regenerated,

and

vested

with

these

white

garments,

the emblem of the purity of their souls. Tt was, therefore, on the evening of the following Saturday, and after
the Office of Vespers, that they put off their baptismal
robes, as we will describe farther on.
In Rome, the Station is in the Lateran basilica, the
mother and mistress of all churches. It is close to the
baptistery of Constantine, where, eight days back, the
neophytes received the grace of regeneration. The
basilica, wherein

they are now assembled, is that from

which they set out, during the still and dark night,

to the font of salvation, led on by the mysterious light

of the Paschal torch. It was to this same church that
they returned after their Baptism, clad in their white
robes, and assisted, for the first time, at the entire
celebration of the Christian Sacrifice, and received the
Body and Blood of Christ Jesus. No other place could
have been more appropriate for the Station of this day,
whereon they were to return to the ordinary duties of
life. Holy Church sees assembled around her these her
It is the last time that she will
new-born children.
see them in their white garments, and she looks at them
with all the affection of a joyful mother. They are
most dear to her, as the fruit of heaven’s own giving;
and during the week she has frequently given expression
to her maternal pride, in canticles such as she alone can

sing.
Sometimes she thought how they had feasted at the

divine Banquet, and how they were strengthened and
beautified by the Flesh of him who is all wisdom and
sweetness; and she sang these words:

R. De ore prudentis procedit mel, alleluia; dulcedo
mellis est sub lingua ejus,
alleluia; * Favus distillans
labia ejus, alleluia.

K. From the mouth of the
wise cometh honey, alleluia; the
sweetness of honey
is under his
tongue; * his lips are as a dropping honeycomb, alleluia.

SATURDAY

IN EASTER WEEK

Y. Sapientia requiescit in

279

¥. Wisdom resteth in his
corde ejus, et prudentia in heart, and prudence is in the
sermone oris
illius. * Favus word of his mouth. * His lips
distillans labia ejus, alleluia. are as a dropping honeycomb,
alleluia.

Sometimes she was elated with joy, as she saw transformed into innocent lambs those who, heretofore,
had led worldly lives; they had now begun a new life,
and with all the innocence of little children; to describe
them, she sings this pastoral strain:

Ry. Isti sunt agni novelli
K. These are the new lambs
qui annuntiaverunt Alleluia: and they have announced to
modo venerunt ad fontes; us the Alleluia : they have
* Repleti sunt claritate. Al- come but now to the fount;
* They are filled with light.
leluia, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. In conspectu Agni
Y. They are standing in the
amicti sunt stolis albis, et sight of the Lamb, clothed with
palmz in manibus eorum. white robes, and palms in their
* Repleti sunt claritate. Al hands. * They are filled with
luia, alleluia.
light. Alleluia, alleluia.
Again,

at other times, she looked with holy pride on

the splendid virtues which Baptism had infused into
their souls, and on the spotless purity which made
them beam with light; she thusenthusiastically speaks
of their beauty:

®. Candidi facti sunt Nazarei ejus, alleluia; splendorem
Deo_dederunt, alleluia: * Et sicut lac coagulati
sunt. Alleluia, alleluia.
_¥. Candidiores nive, nitidiores lacte, rubicundiores
ebore antiquo, sapphiro pulchriores. * Et sicut lac coagulsti sunt. Alleluia, alle
ia.

o, His Nazarites wero white,
eluia; they gavea bright glo
f0°God, allelaia; * And they
were pure as milk. Alleluia,
alleluia.
¥. They were whiter than
snow, purer than milk, more
ruddy than the old ivory, fairer
than'the sapphire. * And they
were pure as milk. Alleluia,
alleluia.

These three Responsories are taken from the Offices
of the holy Church during Paschal time.

PASCHAL TIME

280

MASS
The Introit is composed of words from the 1o4th
Psalm, wherein Israel gives praise to the Lord, for
that he brought his dpmplz out of their exile. By this

people, we must

understand our neophytes, who were

exiled from heaven because of original sin and of those
they themselves had committed: Baptism has restored
them to all the rights they had forfeited, for it has made
them members of the Church.
INTROIT
Eduxit

Dominus

populum

suum in exsultatione, alleluia: et electos suos in letitia. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Confitemini Domino,
et invocate Nomen ejus: annuntiate inter gentes opera
ejus. ¥.Gloria Patri. Eduxit.
Paschal Week

fore, now

asks

is about

our

The

Lord

hath

led forth his

people in_gladness, alleluia:
and his chosen ones in joy.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Praise the Lord, and
call upon his Name: publish
his works among the gentiles.
¥. Glory, etc. The Lord, etc.
to close; the Church,

Lord to grant

there-

to us, her children,

that the joy we have experienced during this happy
Octave may lead us to the still greater joy of the eternal
Pasch.

COLLECT
Concede, quasumus, omGrant, we beseech thee, O
nipotens Deus: ut qui festa almighty God, that we, who
paschalia venerando egimus, with reverence have celebrated
per hzc contingere ad gau- this Paschal solemnity, may
dia aterna mereamur. Per happily arrive at everlasting
Dominum.
joys. Through, etc.
Tothisisadded one of the Collects given in Wednesday’s

Mass, p. 218.
Lectio

Epistole

EPISTLE
beati

Petri

Lesson

of

the

Epistle

of

St

‘Apostoli.
Peter the Apostle.
I Cap. II.
I Ch II
Charissimi, deponentes
Dearly beloved : Laying
igitur omnem malitiam, et away all malice, and all guile

SATURDAY

IN EASTER

omnem dolum, et simulatiomes, et invidias, et omnes

detractiones, sicut modo geniti infantes, ratiopabile sine dolo lac concupiscite, ut
in eo crescatis in salutem: si
tamen gustastis quoniam dulcis est Dominus. Ad quem
lapidem vivum,
bus quidem reprobatum, a Deo autem electum
et honorificatum: et ipsi tan-

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281

and dissimulations, and envies,
and all detractions, as newborn babes, desire the rational
milk without guile; that thereby you may grow unto salvation” if so be you have tasted
that the Lord is sweet; unto
whom coming, as to a living
stone, rejected indeed by men,
but chosen and made honourable by God: be you also as
living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ. Wherefore it is’ said
in the Scripture: ‘ Behold I lay
in Sion a chief corner-stone,
elect, precious: and he that
shall’ believe in him shall not
De confounded.” To you therefore that believe, honour; but
to them that believe not, ‘ the
stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the
head of the corner:’ and a
stone of stumbling and a rock
of scandal, to them who stumble at the word, neither do
believe, whereunto also _they
are set. But you are a chosen
generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a pur-

quam lapides vivi superzdificamini, domus spiritualis,
sacerdotium sanctum, offerre
spirituales hostias, acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum. Propter quod continet
Scriptura: Ecce pono in Sion lapidem summum angularem, electum, pretiosum: et
qui_crediderit in eum non
confundetur. _ Vobis igitur
honor credentibus: non credentibus autem, lapis quem
reprobaverunt ~ zdificantes,
hic factus est in caput anguli: et lapis offensionis, et
etra scandali his, qui offenlunt verbo, nec credunt in
quo et positi sunt. Vos autem genus electum, regale
sacerdotium, gens ~sancta,
chased people: that you may
populus acquisitionis:
ut vi
tutes annuntietis ejus, qui declare his virtues, who hath
de tenebris vos vocavit in ad- called you out of darkness inmirabile lumen suum. Qui to his marvellous light. Who
aliquando non populus, aunc in time past were not a people:
autem populus Dei:
qui but are now the people of
God. Who had not obtained
non
consecuti
misericords
mercy; but now have obtained
am, nunc autem misericordiam consecuti.
mercy.
The

neophytes

could

not

have

received

any

appropriate instruction than this, which the
of the Apostles addresses to us all. St Peter
this first Epistle to the newly baptized of those
He affectionately calls them new-born babes. He

more

prince
wrote
days.
urges

PASCHAL

282

TIME

them to that virtue, which so becomes the age of infancy
—the virtue of simplicity. He tells them that the
doctrine they have been taught will be to them a milk,
which will feed and strengthen them. He invites
them to taste how sweet is the Lord they have now vowed
to serve.

After this, he speaks of one of the leading characteristics of Christ, namely, his being the foundation

and corner-stone of God's house.

It is upon him that

the faithful, who are the living stones of the spiritual
edifice, must rest. He alone can give them solidity;
and hence, when about to return to his Father, he chose

and established upon earth another rock—a rock that

should be ever visible, united with and based upon his

own divine self, and partaking of his solidity. The
Apostle’s humility forbids his developing the whole
truth as related in the

glorious
spoken

prerogative;

by

our

Lord

Gospel,' which

tells us of his

but if we remember

to St Peter,

we

the words

understand

the

whole doctrine implied in our Epistle.
The Apostle is silent about his own dignity as the
rock, on which Jesus has built his Church; but observe

the glorious titles he gives to us, who have been made

members of that Church by Baptism.

You are, says he,

a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy mation,
a purchased people.

Oh, yes! what a difference there

is between one that is baptized and one that is not !
Heaven is opened to the one, and shut against the other;

the one is a slave of the devil, and the other is a king in

Christ Jesus, the eternal King, whose brother he has
now become; the one cut off from God, the other offering

him a sacrifice of infinite worth by the hands of the
great High Priest, Jesus. And all these gifts have
been bestowed upon us by a purely gratuitous mercy;
we had done nothing to merit them. Let us, then,
offer to the Father, who has thus adopted us, our humble
acts of thanksgiving; let us go back, in thought, to the
time when we ourselves were neophytes, and renew the
+ St Matt. xvi 18,

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WEEK:

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283

promises which were made, in our name, as the essential
condition of our being admitted to all these graces.
From this day forward, the Church ceases to use,
during Paschal time, the Responsory called the Gradual.
She

substitutes,

in its stead,

two

versicles,

with

the

Alleluia repeated four times: the formula is less solemn,

but more joyous. During the first six days of the
Octave, which bear an analogy with the six days of
creation, she would maintain the customary majestic
gravity of her chants; now that she has reached the day
whereon the Creator rested after his work was finished,
she gives free scope to the holy joy, wherewith she iis
filled.

Alleluia, alleluia.
Y. This is the day which
Y. Hwc dies, quam fecit
Dominus:
exsultemus et the Lord hath made: let us be
glad, and rejoice therein.
lztemur
in ea.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
¥. Laudate pueri Domi¥. Praise the Lord, ye his
num, ‘laudate
Nomen Do- servants; praise the Name of
‘mini.
the Lord.
Alleluia,

alleluia.

The Sequence Victima Paschali, p. 145.
GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Joannem.
Cap. XX.
In illo tempore: Una sabbati Maria Magdalene venit
mane, cum adhuc tenebra
essent,
ad
monumentum:
et vidit lapidem sublatum a
monumento. Cucurrit
ergo,
e venit 24 SimonemPetrum, et ad alium _discipulum, quem amabat Jesus, et
dicit illis: Tulerunt Dominum de monumento, et nescimus ubi
posuerunt eum.
Exiit ergo Petrus, et ille
alius discipulus, et venerunt ad monumentum. Cur-

Sequel

of the

holy

according to John.
Ch. XX.

Gospel

At that time: The first day
of the week, Mary Magdalen
cometh early, while it was yet
dark, to the sepulchre: and
she saw the stone taken away
from the sepulchre. She ran,
therefore, and cometh to Simon
Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and
saith to them: They have
taken away the Lord out of
the sepulchre, and we know
not where they have laid him,
Peter therefore went out, and
that other disciple and they

PASCHAL

284

rebant_autem duo simul, et
ille alius_discipulus pracucurrit citius Petro, et venit
rimus ad
monumentum.
t cum se inclinasset, vidit
osita linteamina, non tamen
introivit. Venit ‘ergo Simon
Petrus_ sequens eum,
et
introivit in mgnumentur, et
vidit linteamina posita, et
sudarium, quod fuerat super
caput ejus, non cum linteaminibus positum, sed separatim involutum in unum
locum. Tunc ergo introivit
et ille discipulus, qui venerat
primus ad monumentum: et
vidit, et credidit: nondum
enim sciebant Scripturam,
quia oportebat eum a mor-

tuis resurgere.

This incident, which

our

Lord’s

Resurrection,

TIME

came to the sepulchre. And
they both ran together, and
that other disciple did outrun
Peter, and came first to the
sepuichre. And when he
stooped down, he saw the linen
cloths lying: but yet he went
not in. Then cometh Simon
Peter, following him, and went
into the sepulchre, and saw
the linen cloths lying. And
the napkin, that had been about
his head, not lying with the
linen cloths, but apart, wrapt
up into one place. Then that
other disciple also went in,
who came first to the sepulchre:
and he saw, and believed; for
as yet they knew not the
Scripture, that he must rise
again from the dead.

happened
has

on the morning of

been

reserved

by

the

Church for to-day’s Liturgy, because it again brings
St Peter before our notice. This is the last day on which
the neophytes assist at the holy Sacrifice in their white
garments; after this, there will be nothing to distinguish
them,

exteriorly,

important,

from

therefore,

the rest of the faithful.

It is

to give them a clear idea of the

foundation of the Church—a foundation, without which

the Church could not exist, and upon which they must
rest, if they would persevere in the faith wherein they
have been baptized. They cannot obtain salvation

unless they keep their faith inviolate. Now they alone
have this firm and pure faith who are docile to the teachings of Peter, and recognize him as the rock on which
our Lord has built his Church. In the episode related
in our Gospel, we are taught by an Apostle what respect
and deference are due to him whom Christ appointed
to feed both lambs and sheep,* that is, the whole flock.
Peter and John runm fogether to the sepulchre; John,

the younger of the two, arrives there before Peter; he

* St Joha xxi 13, 17.

SATURDAY

IN EASTER

looks in, but does not enter.

WEEK:

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285

What means this humble

reserve of the disciple who was so specially beloved of
Jesus?

For whom

does he wait ?

He waits for him,

whom the Master has placed over all, and who is to act
as their head.

Peter, at length, comes to the sepulchre;

he goes in; he examines the holy place; and then John
also enters. It is John himself who writes this, and gives
us the admirable instruction embodied in what he

relates.

Yes, it is for Peter to lead the way, and judge,

and decide as master; it is the Christian’s duty to follow
him, to listen to his teachings, to honour and obey him.

How can we have any difficulty in doing this, when we
see an Apostle, and such an Apostle, behaving thus to
Peter, and this, too, at a time when Peter had received

the promise only of the keys of the kingdom of heaven,

which were not really given to him until some days after ?
The words of the Offertory are taken from the 117th
Psalm, which is par excellence the Psalm of the Resurrec-

tion.

They

hail the divine Conqueror,

who

rises like

a bright star, and gladdens us with his benediction.

OFFERTORY
Benedictus qui venit in
nomine
Domini:
benediximus vobis de domo Domini:

Blessed be he that cometh
in the name of the Lord: we
have blessed
you out of the

nobis.

is God, and he hath shone
upon us.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Deus

Dominus

et

illuxit

Alleluia, alleluia.

house of the

Lord: the Lord

In the Secret, the Church teaches us that the mysteries
we celebrate during the year exercise a lasting influence
upon us. Each feast, as it comes round to us, brings
with it fresh life and joy; and it is by its annual celebration that the Church applies to her children the graces
which each mystery brought with it at the actual time of
its accomplishment.
SECRET

Concede, quasumus Do- _ Grant, we beseech thee, O
mine, semper nos per hzc Lord, that we may aiways
mysteria Paschalia gratulari; gratefully solemnize the Pas-

286
PASCHAL TIME
ut continua nostra reparati- chal mysteries, and that the
onis operatio, perpetuz no- continual ~celebration of the
bis fiat causa letitiz. Per sacrament of our redemption

may be to us a subject of
perpetual joy. Through, etc.

Dominum.

To this is added one of the Secrets given in Wednesday’s Mass, p. 224.

Our neopgytes are to lay aside to-day their white

robes;

but there is a garment

which

they are never to

put away: it is Christ himself, who became united with
them

by Baptism,

reminds them:

as the Apostle

of the gentiles here

COMMUNION

Omnes qui in Christo baAll you that have been bapptizati estis, Christum in- tized in Christ, have put on
Christ, alleluia.
duistis, alleluia.
The Church returns once more, in her Postcommunion,

to the subject of faith. Without faith there is no
Christianity : now it is the Eucharist which has the power

of fostering it in the soul, for the Eucharist is the mystery
of faith.
POSTCOMMUNION

Redemptionis nostre muBeing strengthened, O Lord,
nere
vegetati, quasumus by the sacrament of our re.
Domine: ut hoc perpetuz demption, grant that through
salutis auxilio fides semper this help to eternal salvation,
vera proficiat. Per Domi- a true faith may always be
num.
increased in us.
Through, etc.
To this is added one of the Postcommunions given in
Wednesday’s Mass, p. 225.

THE

TAKING

OFF

OF THE

WHITE

GARMENTS

The Vespers, on each of the days of this week, were

celebrated in the manner we described on the Sunday.
There was a numerous attendance, each day, in the
basilica; and the faithful thus testified their affectionate

SATURDAY

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WEEK

287

interest in the white-robed neophytes, who visited,
during the Vespers of each day, the sacred font where
they had been born to the new life of grace. This afternoon, the concourse of people is greater than on the
preceding days, for an interesting ceremony is to take
place. The neophytes are about to lay aside the outward symbol of innocence which they have been wearing;
but they are also to give a solemn promise to maintain
the inward purity of soul. By this public ceremony

the Church restores the newly baptized to the duties
of their ordinary station of life: they must now return
to the world, and comport

themselves as Christians—

disciples of Christ—for such they are.
The visit to the baptistery has been made, and the
Office of Vespers has terminated with the Station before
the crucifix of the chancel: the neophytes are then led
to a room adjoining the cathedral, in which is prepared
a large vessel of water. The bishop goes to his throne.
Seeing the newly baptized standing around him, he
addresses them in a discourse, wherein he expresses the
joy he feels, as pastor, at the increase wherewith it has
pleased God to bless his much-loved flock. He congratulates them upon the grace they have received; and
then, alluding to the main object of their coming together
this afternoon—that is, the laying aside of the white
garments they received after Baptism—he warns them,
with paternal affection, to keep a guard over themselves,
and see that they never sully the purity of soul, of which
their white robes have been but an emblem.
These were lent to the neophytes by the Church,
as we said on Holy Saturday; they come now to restore
them. The water in which the garments are to be
washed is blessed by the pontiff. As soon as he has
finished the address to which we have just been alluding,
he says a prayer, wherein he speaks of the power given
to this element of cleansing the stains of the soul herself.
Then turning to the neophytes, he recites the r16th
Psalm, in thanksgiving; to which he adds this beautiful
prayer:

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288

TIME

Visit, O Lord, thy people with thy salvation! Behold it
now illumined with the Paschal joy | ~But do thou vouchsafe
to preserve in our neophytes what thou thyself hast wrought
in them unto salvation. Grant that whilst laying aside these
white robes, the change may be but exterior; that the spotless
purity of Christ, which the eye cannot see, may ever be in
their souls, so that they may never lose it; and that thy grace
may assist them to gain, by good works, that immortal life
whereunto the Paschal mystery obliges us to aspire.

After this, aided by their sponsors—the men by their
godfathers, the women by their godmothers—the
neophytes take off their white garments, which are then

consigned to those whose duty it is to wash and keep

them.

children

The

sponsors

to put

on

having

their

assisted

their

spiritual

ordinary dress, lead them

to

the pontiff, who distributes to each an image of the
divine Lamb, stamped on wax: it is the Paschal symbol.
A last vestige of this interesting ceremony is the
distribution of the Agnus Dei. This distribution is
made by_the Pope, on this day, in Rome, the first and
every seventh year of his pontificate. We have already
described the rite observed in their blessing, and we
then drew the attention of our readers to the allusion
to the ancient form of Baptism by immersion. The
Agnus Dei are blessed on the Wednesday of Easter
Week: on the following Saturday, there is what is called
Pagpal Chapel in the palace. After High Mass, the Agnus
Dei are brought before the pontiff, who is seated on a
throne.
The prelate, who presents them, sings the
following words, which are taken from one of the beau-

tiful Responsories given above: ‘ Holy Father!

These

are the new lambs, and they have announced to us the

Alleluia : they have come but now to the fount: they
are filled with light.” The Pope answers: Deo gratias /
They who are happy enough to witness this function
are forcibly reminded of the ancient ceremony we have
been describing, in which the newly baptized were
led before the bishop, as the innocent lambs whom he
so gladly welcomed.
The Pope then distributes the
Agnus Dei to the cardinals, prelates, and others pre-

SATURDAY

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289

sented by the master of ceremonies: and thus is concluded

this function, which is interesting, not only because of

its signification, but also because of the sacred object
wherewith it consoles us.
We cannot conclude this last day of our neophytes’
Octave without saying a few words upon the Annotine
Pasch.
It was the anniversary day of the previous
Easter Sunday, and was looked upon as the especial
feast of those who were a year old in the grace of their
Baptism. The Mass was solemnly celebrated for them.
The remembrance of the happy day when they were
made children of God was thus brought before them;
and, of course, their families kept the glorious annive
as a glad holiday. If it came during Lent, the Annotine
was not kept, or it was deferred till Easter Monday.
It
would seem that in some places, in order to avoid these
continual changes, the anniversary of Baptism was
regularly fixed for this the Saturday of Easter Week.
‘When the custom of administering Baptism at Easter
fell into disuse, the Annotine Pasch also ceased to be
" observed: however, we find traces of it as late as the
thirteenth century. The custom of looking on the
anniversary of our Baptism as a feast-day is one of those
which may be called Christian instincts. The pagans
made much of the day which had given them temporal
birth; surely, we ought to show quite as much respect
to the anniversary of our Baptism, when we were born
to the supernatural life. St Louis used to sign himself
Louis

of Poissy, because

it was in the little church

of

Poissy that he had received Baptism. Let us learn
from this holy king to love the day and the place of our
of God
Baptism, that is, of our being made’ chilg
and of his Church.

We have been considering, during the preceding
days of this week, the divine work of the creation.
We began with the Sunday, whereon light was called
forth from

nothingness;

and in this we

recognized

a

type of the mystery of the Resurrection; for our Jesus,

19

290

PASCHAL TIME

the uncreated Light, was to rise from his grave on that
same day of the week. This is Saturday, the seventh

day, the day whereon the Lord rested, after the creation.
But it is also the day whereon this same Lord rested in

his glorious sepulchre.
Let us, then, honour this second
mystery, which even more than the first reveals to us
the love of the Son of God for man. Let us give him
our Saturday’s homage, by addressing him in these
words of the Mozarabic breviary:
CAPITULA

Christe Dei filius, nostrarum requies animarum, qui

otium Sabbati requiescens
in tumulo complevisti: ut

O Christ, the Son of God,
thou rest of our souls, who
didst observe the repose of the
Sabbath by resting in the tomb,

in quo olim requieveras ab that thou, who on this da;
omni opere faciendo, in eo didst heretofore rest from all
etiam requiesceres in sepul- the work of thy creation, mightchro, hunc nobis veraciter est also on the same rest in
sanctificans diem, cujus_ve- the sepulchre ; hereby truly
sperum in prima nobis Sab- keeping holy that day, whose
bati, qua et octava dies evening is the beginning of our
est, lucescit:
ut qui dixe- first day of the Sabbath, which
ras de tenebris lumen splen- is likewise the eighth day; that
descere, manifeste a mor- thou, who commandedst light
tuis resurgens appareres in to shine forth out of darkness,
carne; dirige cursum vitz mightest, by thy Resurrection,
nostr® in viam sanctifica- appear in the flesh: so direct
tionis omnimod, qualiter the course of our lives in the
ita_in his septem diebus, path of all holiness, that in
quibus mundus iste pera- these seven days of the world’s
gitur, et in quibus quotidie duration, on each of which the
nobis Agnus _occiditur, et Lamb is slain and the Pasch
Pascha quotidie celebratur, is celebrated for us, we may
salubriori vitz
curriculo live in such wise as to secure
conversemur:
ut absque our salvation, and may daily
fermento
malitiz
veram be found worthy to celebrate
Pascha mereamur quotidie the true Pasch, pure from the
leaven of malice: that thus, by
celebrare:
et ita ab omnibus operibus nostris in hoc a holiness pleasing to thee, we
die sanctificatione tibi pla- may so rest on this day from
cita quiescamus, ut octavi all our works, that we may deillius_terni diei resurre- serve to receive the glory of the
Resurrection, on the ~eighth,
ctionis gloria consolemur.
that is, the eternal day.

SATURDAY

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WEEK

291

The Greek Church shall provide us to-day with a
hymn in honour of the Resurrection. We take the
following stanzas from its Liturgy for Easter Sunday:
IN DOMINICA RESURRECTIONIS

In imam terram descendisti, ac wternas contrivisti,
Christe, seras, quz in compedibus vinctos captivabant;
et triduanus, sicut e cete
Jonas, e sepulchro ortus es.
Sigilla intacta servans, e
sepulchro erectus es, Christe,
ui in partu tuo non laseras
claves virginis; et Paradisi
portas nobis aperuisti.
Salvator meus, viventem
et non immolatam hostiam,
quatenus Deus es, teipsum
Patri sponte libera obtulisti;
exsurgensque e sepulchro
suscitasti universum
una
Adam.
sepulchrum quidem
In
descendisti, immortalis;
ferni vero confregisti virtutem: et tanquam victor surrexisti, Christe Deus; mauli
ribus aromatoferis dixisti:
Salvete, _Apostolisque tuis
pacem = dedisti, qui lapsis
prabes resurrectionem.
Mortis concelebramus i
teritum, inferni eversionem,
alterius’ _vite, et quidem
@tern, primitias; et saltantes in hymnis cantamus auctorem, unicum a Patribus
celebratum Deum, et supergloriosum.
Vere sacra et plane festiva est, ipsa salutaris nox et
splendescens, diei rutilantis
ac resurrectionis

prenuntia,

Thou didst descend, O
Christ, into the bowels of the
earth, and break the eternal
bolts which held thy holy ones
captive; and, on the third
day, like Jonas, thou didst
rise fron. thé tomb.
Thou, O Jesus, didst leave
unbroken the seal when rising
from the tomb, as thou didst
eave Mary's virginity
perfect
when born of herr T:'z)upopenest to us the gates of heaven.
My Saviour! thou freely
offeredst thyself to the Father
a living host, for, as God, thou
couldst ot be slain; and, by
thy rising from the tomb, thou
didst raise up all the children
of Adam.
Thou didst truly descend
into
the
tomb,
O
immortal
God | But thou didst break
the power of hell, and rise as
a conqueror. Thou saidst to
the women that brought their
perfumes: Hail ! Thou gavest
peace to thine Apostles, O
thou that givest resurrection
to the fallen|
We celebrate the destruction of death, the overthrow
of hell, the first-fruits of a new
and eternal life. With joy we
sing hymns to the Creator,
the one only God of our
Fathers, the infinitely glorious
One.
O truly sacred and festive,
saving and bright night, the
harbinger of the sunny day of
the Resurrection, whereon the

292
PASCHAL TIME
in qua lux =terna e sepul- Light eternal rose from the
chro corporaliter cunctis il- tomb, and shed his beams upon
all men.
luxit.
Venite, ut novo genimini
Come, let us participate in
vitis, divinz lztitiz commu- the new fruit of the vine, and
nicemus, die _resurrectionis in the divine joy, for it is the
regnique Christi praeclara, glorious day of Christ’s Relaudantes_eum in hymnis surrection and kingdom. Let
tanquam Deum in szcula.
us praise him in our hymns as
the God who liveth for ever.
Leva in circuitu oculos
O Sion! lift up_thine eyes
tuos, Sion, et vide; ecce round about, and see; for
enim splendore divino radi- children, shining as lights with
antes sicut lampades, vene- the brightness of God upon
runt tibi ilii ab occidente, et them, have come to thee from
ab aquilone, a mare meridi- the west and north, from the
ano et ab oriente; in te bene- south sea, and the east. In
thee, they give praise to Christ
dicunt Christum in szcula.
for ever.
O divina | O amica ! O dul0 divine ! O welcome ! O thy
cissima vox tua ! etenim non
most sweet word, O Jesus!
fallaciter promisisti Christe, Thou hast promised, and the
te futurum esse nobiscum promise cannot fail, that thou
usque ad consummationem wilt abide with us even to the
swculi: quam spei anchoram end of the world: it is the
fideles nos servantes, le- anchor of hope to us thy faithtamur.
ful servants, and makes us glad.
O Pascha magnum et sanO Jesus! our great and
ctissimum, Christe! O Sa- most holy Pasch! O Wisdom,
pientia, et Verbum, Deique Word, and Power of God |
virtus | Da ut juxta exemplar grant that we may live accordformati, tecum simus parti- ing to the model thou hast
cipes in die nunquam dece- given us, and enjoy with thee
dente regni tui.
the never-ending day of thy
kingdom.
In the Proper Offices of the Order of the Holy
Sepulchre, there is given the following beautiful hymn,

which we offer to our readers as being most appropriate
to the day:
HYMN

Dic sepulchri gloriosi,
Lata mens, miracula;
gno velut matris pudice
hristus alvo prodiit:
Ut prophetarum fideles
Pagin® spoponderant.

Be glad, my soul, and sing
the wonders of the glorious
sepulchre, whence came thy
Christ, as, heretofore, from the
womb' of his Virgin Mother.
Thus was it foretold by the
truthful prophets.

SATURDAY

IN EASTER WEEK

In novo conceptus alvo
Virginis puerperz,
In novo compostus antro
Conquievit pumicis:
Gloriosus hoc et illa,
Vir, puerque prodiit.
Hzc parit corpus caducum,
Omnium spe serius;
Eviternum reddit illud,
Omnium spe citius;
Tlla pannis involutum,
Linteis hoc conditum.
Ex sinu matris futuram
Ad salutem nascitur;
At salute jam parata,
Rupis alvus reddidit;
Ad crucem pagens produxit,
At silex ad gloriam.
Ergo te, ceelestis Agni
Purpurata sanguine
Aula ter felix, adorent
Terra, pontus, @thera;
Nec sepulchrum quis vocarit,
Vita de quo nascitur.
Gloria et honor Deo
Usquequaque altissimo,
Una Patri, Filioque,
Inclyto Paraclito,
Cui laus est, et potestas
Per immensa szcula.
Amen.
And,

lastly, let

this is her

Resurrection

day.

us turn

Let us

of her divine

He was conceived in the
pure womb of a Virgin Mother;
50, 100, he was buried in a tomb,
wherein no other man had
been placed; from both he
comes the glorious Jesus, as
infant first, and then as man.
The Mother, after long ages
of hope, brings him forth
created in mortal flesh; the
tomb, though none had_hoped
it, restores him clad in immortality: Mary wrapped him_in
swathing-bands; the sepulchre
held him in the winding-sheet.
He is born, for the world’s
salvation, from the womb of
his Mother; he rises from the
tomb, after our salvation has
been wrought: the Mother
nursed him for the Cross; the
tomb, for glory.
O thrice holy sanctuary!
beautified with the Blood of
the Lamb of God! let earth,
and sea, and heaven, venerate
thee. How strange to call
that a sepulchre, whence life
was born |
Glory and honour be, for
ever, to_the most high God !
To the Father, Son, and Holy
Paraclete, one praise and
power, for everlasting ages.
Amen!
to the

blessed

congratulate
Son,

devout sequence, taken from
the churches of Germany:

SEQUENCE

Resurgenti tuo nato,
Mater, plaude, qui prostrato
Regnat mortis principe;

293

Mother, for

her upon

in the words

the

of this

the ancient missals

of

Give praise, O Mother, to
thy risen Jesus, who reigns
triumphant over the prince of

204

PASCHAL

Tuum virgo pone luctum,
Jesum ventris tui fructum
Redivivum suscipe.

Morte prolis cruciata,
Corde dure sauciata
Passionis gladio:
Voce jubilationis,
Jam de resurrectionis
Jocundare gaudio.
Crucifixum, qui surrexit
De sepulchro teque vexit
Sua in palatia,
Nobis placa, supplicamus
A peccatis ut surgamus
Ad zterna gaudia.
Amen.

TIME

death. Cease thy mourning:
for Jesus, the it of | thy
womb, is Testored to life, and
visits thee.
His death was thy cross;
his Passion, the sword that
cruelly pierced thy Heart:
but now, sing a hymn of joy,
and be glad, because of his
Resurrection.
He was crucified; but now
he is risen from the tomb,
and has taken thee to his
heavenly court: pray to him for
us, we_beseech thee, that we
may rise from our sins to
everlasting joy. Amen.

LOW

QUASIMODO
THE

SUNDAY

OR

OCTAVE

LOW

295

SUNDAY

OF THE PASCH

OUR neophytes closed the Octave of the Resurrection
yesterday. They were before us in receiving the
admirable mystery; their solemnity would finish earlier
than

ours.

This,

then, is the eighth day

for us who

kept the Pasch on the Sunday, and did not anticipate
it on the vigil. It reminds us of all the glory and joy of
that feast of feasts, which united the whole of Christendom in one common feeling of triumph.
It is the day of
light, which takes the place of the Jewish Sabbath.
Henceforth, the first day of the week is to be kept holy.
Twice has the Son of God honoured it with the manifestation of his almighty power. The Pasch, therefore,
is always to be eelebrated on the Sunday; and thus every
Sunday becomes a sort of Paschal feast, as we have
. already explained in the Mystery of Easter.
Our risen Jesus gave an additional proof that he
wished

day.

the

Sunday

to be,

henceforth,

the

privileged

He reserved the second visit he intended to pay

to all his disciples for this the eighth day since his

Resurrection.

During the previous days, he has left

Thomas a prey to doubt; but to-day he shows himself
to this Apostle, as well as to the others, and obliges him,

by irresistible evidence,

to lay aside his incredulity.

Thus does our Saviour again honour the Sunday. The
Holy Ghost will come down from heaven upon this
same day of the week, making it the commencement of
the Christia.n Church: Pentecost will complete the glory
of this favoured day.
Jesus’ apparition to the eleven, and the victory he
gains over the incredulous Thomas—these are the
special subjects the Church brings before us to-day.

296

PASCHAL

TIME

By this apparition, which is the seventh since his Resurrection, our Saviour wins the perfect faith of his disciples.
It is impossible not to recognize God in the patience,
the majesty, and the charity of him who shows himself
to them. Here, again, our human thoughts are disconcerted; we should have thought this delay excessive;
it would have seemed to us that our Lord ought to have
at once either removed the sinful doubt from Thomas’s
mind, or punished him for his disbelief.

But no: Jesus

is infinite wisdom, and infinite goodness. In his wisdom,
he makes this tardy acknowledgement of Thomas become a new argument of the truth of the Resurrection;

in his goodness, he brings the heart of the incredulous

disciple to repentance, humility, and love; yea, to a
elief. We
fervent and solemn retractation of all his
will not here attempt to describe this admirable scene,

which holy Church is about to bring before us.

We will

select, for our to-day’s instruction, the important lesson

given by Jesus to his disciple, and through him to us all.
It is the leading instruction of the Sunday, the Octave
of the Pasch, and it behoves us not to pass it by, for,
more than any other, it tells us the leading characteristic
of a Christian, shows us the cause of our being so listless

in God’s service, and points out to us the remedy for our

spiritual ailments.
Jesus says to Thomas: ‘ Because thou hast seen
me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not
seen, and have believed I Such is the great truth,
spoken by the lips of the God-Man: it is a most important
counsel, given, not only to Thomas, but to all who would

serve God and secure their salvation. What is it that
Jesus asks of his disciple ? Has he not heard him make

profession that now, at last, he firmly believes?

After

all, was there any great fault in Thomas's insisting on

having

experimental

evidence

before

believing

in

so

extraordinary a miracle as the Resurrection?
Was
he obliged to trust to the testimony of Peter and the

others, under penalty of offending his divine Master ?
Did he not evince his prudence, by withholding his

LOW

SUNDAY

297

assent until he had additional proofs of the truth of what
Yes, Thomas was a circumspect
his brethren told him ?
and prudent man, and one that was slow to believe what
he had heard; he was worthy to be taken as a model
by those Christians who reason and sit in judgement
upon matters of faith. And yet, listen to the reproach
made him by Jesus. Itis mercxfifl and withal so severe !
Jesus has so far condescended

to the weakness

of his

and exclaims,

in the

disciple as to accept the condition on which alone he
declares that he will believe: now that the disciple stands
trembling

before

his risen Lord,

earnestness of faith, ‘ My Lord and my God !” oh! see
how

Jesus

credulity,

chides

deserves

him!

This

stubbornness,

a punishment:

this

the punishment

in-

is,

to have these words said to him: ‘ Thomas ! thou hast

believed, because thou hast seen !”

Then was Thomas

seen ?

-Yes,

obliged to believe before having

undoubtedly.

Not

only

Thomas,

but

all the Apostles were in duty bound to believe the
Resurrection of Jesus even before he showed himself

to them. Had they not lived three years with him ?
Had they not seen him prove himself to be the Messias
and the Son of God by the most undeniable miracles ?
Had he not foretold them that he would rise again on
the third day ? As to the humiliations and cruelties of
his Passion, had he not told them, a short time previous

to it, that he was to be seized by the Jews in Jerusalem,

and be delivered to the gennles? that he was to be
scourged, spit upon, and put to death ?*
After all this, they ought to have believed in his

triumphant

Resurrection,

heard of his Body

havin

the very first moment

d.lsap d.

they

As soon as

John had entered the se; ni:hre
and seen the winding-

sheet, he at once ceased

to doubt; he believed.

But

it is seldom that man is so honest as this; he hesitates,

and God must make still further advances, if he would
have us give our faith! Jesus condescended even to
this: he made further advances. He showed himself
* St Luke xvii 32, 33.

298

PASCHAL TIME

to Magdalen and her companions, who were not incredulous, but only carried away by natural feeling,
though the leel.lng was one of love for their Master.
When the Apostles heard their account of what had
happened, they treated them as women whose imagination had got the better of their judgement. Jesus had
to come in person: he showed himself to these obstinate
men, whose pride made them forget all that he had said
and done, sufficient indeed to make them believe in
his Resurrection.

Yes, it was pride; for faith has no

other obstacle than this. If man were humble, he
would have faith enough to move mountains.
To return to our Apostle. Thomas had heard Magdalen, and he despised her testimony; he had heard
Peter,

and he objected to his authority;

he had heard

the rest of his fellow-Apostles and the two disciples of

Emmaus, and no, he would not give up his own opinion.
How many there are among us who are like him in this !
‘We never think of doubting what is told us by a truthful
and disinterested witness, unless the subject touch upon
the supernatural; and then we have a hundred difficulties.
It is one of the sad consequences left in us by original
sin. Like Thomas, we would see the thing ourselves:
and that alone is enough to keep us from the fulness of
the truth. We comfort ourselves with the reflection
that, after all, we are disciples of Christ; as did Thomas,
who kept in union with
his brother-Apostles, only he
shared not their happiness.
He saw their happiness,
but he considered it to be a weakness of mind, and was
glad that he was free from it !
How like this is to our modern rationalistic Catholic !
He

believes, but it is because his reason almost

forces

him to believe; he believes with his mind, rather than

from his heart. His faith is a scientific deduction, and
not a generous longing after God and supernatural truth.
Hence how cold and powerless is this faith | how cramped
and ashamed! how afraid of believing too much !
Unlike the generous unstinted faith of the saints, it is
satisfied with fragments of truth, with what the Scripture

299
LOW SUNDAY
terms diminished truths! It seems ashamed of itself.

It speaks in a whisper, lest it should be criticized; and
when it does venture to make itself heard, it adopts a
phraseology which may take off the sound of the divine.
As to those miracles which it wishes had never taken

place, and which it would have advised God not to work,
they are a forbidden subject. The very mention of a

miracle,

particularly if it have happened

in our own

times, puts it into a state of nervousness.
The lives of
the saints, their heroic virtues, their sublime sacrifices—

it has a repugnance to the whole thing ! It talks gravely
about those who are not of the true religion being un-

justly dealt with by the Church in Catholic countries;

it asserts that the same liberty ought to be granted to
error

as to truth;

it has very

serious doubts

whether

the world has been a great loser by the secularization of

society.

Now it was for the instruction of persons of this class
that our Lord spoke those words to Thomas: ‘ Blessed

are they who have not seen, and have believed.”

Thomas

sinned in not having the readiness of mind to believe.

Like him, we also are in danger of sinning, unless our

faith have a certain expansiveness, which makes us

see everything with the eye of faith, and gives our faith
that progress which God recompenses with a superabundance of light and joy. Yes, having once become
members of the Church, it is our duty to look upon all

things from a supernatural point of view.

There is no

danger of going too far, for we have the teachings of
an infallible authority to guide us. ‘The just man

liveth by faith.’*

Faith is his daily bread.

His mere

natural life becomes transformed for good and all, if
only he be faithful to his Baptism. Could we suppose
that the Church, after all her instructions to her neo-

phytes, and after all those sacred rites of their Baptism
which are so expressive of the supernatural life, would
be satisfied to see them straightway adopt that dangerous
system which drives faith into a nook of the heart and
T Pxia
* Rom.i17.

PASCHAL TIME
300
understanding and conduct, leaving all the rest tonatural
principles or instinct ? No, it could not be so. Let us
therefore

imitate

St

Thomas

in

his

confession,

and

acknowledge that hitherto our faith has not been perfect.
Let us go to our Jesus, and say to him: ‘ Thou art my

Lord and my God!
But alas! I have many times
thought and acted as though thou wert my Lord and
my God in some things, and not in others. Henceforth
1 will believe without seeing; for I would be of the number

of those whom thou callest blessed !”
This Sunday, commonly called with us Low Sunday,
has two names assigned to it in the Liturgy: Quasimodo,
from the first word of the Introit; and Sunday

in albis

(or, more explicitly, in albis depositis), because on this

day the neophytes assisted at the Church services attired
in their ordinary dress. In the Middle Ages it was
called Close-Pasch, no doubt in allusion to its being

the last day of the Easter Octave. Such is the solemnity
of this Sunday that not only is it of Greater Double rite,
but no feast, however great, can ever be kept upon it.
At Rome, the Station is in the basilica of St Pancras,

on the Aurelian Way.
Ancient writers have not mentioned the reason of this Church being chosen for to-day’s
assembly of the faithful. It may, perhaps, have been

on account of the saint’s being only fourteen years old

when
young
round

put to death: a circumstance which gave the
martyr a sort of right to have the neophytes
him, now that they were returning to their

everyday life.

MASS
those beautiful words

The Introit repeats
of St
Peter, which were addressed, in yesterday’s Epistle,
to the newly baptized. They are like new-born babes,
lovely in their sweet simplicity, and eager to drink
from the breasts of their dear mother, the Church, the
spiritual milk of faith—that faith which will make them
strong and loyal.

Quasi modo

LOW SUNDAY:

MASS

INTROIT
As
geniti_infan-

new-born

301
babes,

alle-

tes, alleluia: rationabile sine luia: desire the rational milk
dolo lac_concupiscite. Alle- without guile. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
luia, alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Exsultate Deo adjuP5. Rejoice to God our
tori nostro: jubilate Deo helper: sing aloud to the God
acob.
Jacob.
¥. Gloria Patri. Quasi mo. Glory, etc. As new-born,
etc.
do.
On this the last day of the great Octave, the Church,
in her Collect, bids farewell to the glorious solemnities
that have so gladdened us, and asks our Lord to grant
that our lives and actions may ever reflect the holy
influence of our Pasch.
COLLECT

Prasta, quasumus, omnipotens Deus : ut qui paschalia festa peregimus: hec,
te largiente, moribus et
vita teneamus. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O
almighty God, that we, who
have celebrated the Paschal
solemnity, may, by the assistance of thy divine grace, ever
make the effects thereof manifest in_our lives and actions.
Through, etc.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolz beati Joannis Apostoli.
I Cap. V.
Charissimi, omne, quod
natum est ex Deo, vincit
mundum: et hac est victoria,
quz vincit mundum, fides
nostra. Quis est, qui vincit
mundum, nisi qui credit
uoniam Jesus est Filius
ei? Hic est qui venit per
aguam et sanguinem, Jesus
Christus: non in aqua solum,
sed in aqua et sanguine. Et
spiritus est, qui testificatur,
quoniam Christus est veritas.

Lesson of the Epistle of St
John the Apostle.
ICh. V.
Dearly beloved: Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world: and’ this is
the victory which overcometh
the world, our faith. Who is
he that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that
Jesus is the Son of God ? This
is he that came by water and
blood, Jesus Christ: not by
water only, but by water and
blood. And it is the spirit
which testificth, that Christ is

302
PASCHAL TIME
uoniam tres sunt, qui tes- the truth. And there are three
fimonium dant in ceelo: Pa- who give testimony in heaven,
ter, Verbum et Spiritus the Father, the Word, and the
Sanctus: et hi tres unum
Holy Ghost. And these three
sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testi- are one. And there are three
monium dant in terra: Spi- that give testimony on earth:
the spirit, the water, and the
ritus et aqua et sanj
blood, and these three are one,
hi tres unum sunt.
If we receive the testimony of
moniam
hominum _ acci
mus, testimonium Dei ma- men, the testimony of God is
jus est: quoniam hoc est greater. For this is the testitestimonium Dei quod ma- mony of God which is greater,
jus est, quoniam testificatus because he hath testified of his
est de Filio suo. Qui credit Son. He that believeth in the
in Filium Dei, habet testi- Son of God, hath the testimony
monium Dei in se.
of God in himself.
The Apostle

St

John

here

tells us

the merit and

power of faith: it is, says he, a victory, which conquers
the world, both the world

us.

from

outside, and the world within

It is not difficult to understand why this passage
St John’s

Epistles should have been selected for

to-day’s Liturgy: it is on account of its being so much in

keeping with the Gospel appointed for this Sunday, in
which our Lord passes such eulogy upon faith. If, as the
Apostle here assures us, they bvercome

the world

who

believe in Christ, that is not sterling faith which allows
itself to be intimidated by the world. Let us be proud
of our faith, esteeming ourselves happy that we are but
little children when

there is a question

of receiving a

divine truth; and let us not be ashamed of our eager
readiness to admit the testimony of God. This testimony will make itself heard in our hearts, in proportion
to our willingness to hear it. The moment John saw
the winding-bands which had shrouded the Body of his
Master,

he

made

an

act

of faith;

Thomas,

who

had

stronger testimony than John (for he had the word of the
Apostles, assuring him that they had seen their risen
Lord), refused to believe: he had not overcome the world

and its reasonings, because he had not faith.

The two Alleluia Versicles are formed of two texts

alluding

to the Resurrection.

The

second speaks of

the scene which took place on this day, in the cenacle,

LOW

SUNDAY:

Alleluia, alleluia.
Y. In die resurrectionis
mes, dicit Dominus, pracedam vos in Galilzam.
Alleluia.
¥. Post dies octo, januis
clausis, stetit Jesus in medio_discipulorum suorum, et
dixit: Pax vobis. Alleluia.

303

Alleluia, alleluia.
¥. On the day of my Resurrection, saith the Lord, I will
go before you into Galilee.
Alleluia.
Y. After eight days, the
doors being shut, Jesus stood
in the midst of his disciples,
and said: Peace be with you.
Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Joannem.
Cap. XX.
In illo tempore: Quum seo esset die illo, una sabbatorum, et fores essent clause,
ubi erant discipuli congregati propter metum Judzorum: venit Jesus, ef stetit
in medio, et”dixit eis: Pax
vobis. Et cum hoc dixisset,
ostendit eis manus et latus.
Gavisi sunt ergo _discipuli,
viso Domino. Dixit ergo eis
iterum: Pax vobis. Sicut
misit me Pater, et ego mitto
vos. Hazc cum dixisset, insufflavit et dixit eis: Accipite Spiritum _ Sanctum;
quorum remiseritis peccata,
remittuntur eis: et quorum
retinueritis,
retenta
sunt.
Thomas autem unus ex
duodecim, qui dicitur Didymus, non erat cum _eis
quando venit Jesus. Dixerunt ergo et alii discipuli:
Vidimus
Dominum,
_Ille
autem dixit eis: Nisi videro
in manibus ejus fixuram clavorum, et mittam digitum
meum in locum clavorum,
et mittam manum meam in
latus ejus, non credam. Et
t dies octo, iterum erant
ipuli ejus intus: et Tho-

MASS

The sequel of the holy Gospel
according to John.
Ch. XX.
At that time: When it was
late that same day, being the
first day of the week, and the
doors were shut where the
disciples were gathered toether for fear of the Jews,
§esus came and stood in the
midst, and said to them: Peace
be to you. And when he had
said this, he showed them his
bands and his side. The
disciples therefore were glad
when they saw the Lord. He
said therefore to them again:
Peace be to you. As the
Father hath sent me, I also
send you. When he had said
this, he breathed on_them;
and he said to them: Receive
ye the Holy Ghost: whose
sins_you shall forgive, they
are forgiven them; and whose
sins_you shall retain, they are
retained. Now Thomas, one of
the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when
Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said to him: We have
seen the Lord. _But he said to
them: Except I shall see in his
hands the print of the nails, and
put my finger into the place of
the nails, and put my hand into

304

PASCHAL TIME

mas cum eis. Venit Jesus
januis clausis,
et stetit in
medio, et dixit: Pax vobis.
Deinde dicit Thomz: Infer
digitum tuum huc, et vide
manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus
meum: et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis. Respondit
Thomas, et dixit ei: Dominus meus, et Deus meus.
Dixit _ei Jesus: Quia vidisti
me, Thoma, credidisti: beati
ui non viderunt et credierunt. Multa quidem et
alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum
suorum, que non sunt scripta
in libro hoc. Hzc autem
scripta sunt, ut credatis,
uia Jesus est Christus Filius
vitam
ejus,

Dei: et ut credentes,
habeatis
in nomine

the sight of his disciples, which
are not written in this book.
But these are written, that you
may believe that
Jesus is the
Christ, -the Son of God:
and

that believing you may have
life in his name.

‘We have said enough

let us now

his side, I will not believe. And
after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas
with them. Jesus cometh, the
doors being shut, and stood in
the midst, and said: Peace be to
ou. Then he said to Thomas:
t in thy fingers hither, and
see my hands, and bring hither
thy hand, and put it into my
side; and be not faithless, but
believing.
Thomas answered
and said to him: My Lord and
my God! Jesus saith to him:
Because thou hast seen me,
Thomas, thou hast believed:
blessed are they that have not
seen, and have believed. Many
other signs also did Jesus in

about St Thomas’

admire his faith.

incredulity;

His fault has taught

us

to examine and condemn our own want of faith; let us
learn from his repentance how to become true believers.

Our Lord, who had chosen him as one of the pillars of
his Church, has been obliged to treat him with an exceptional familiarity: Thomas
permission,

avails himself of Jesus’

puts his finger into the sacred wound,

and

immediately he sees the sinfulness of his past incredulity.
He would make atonement, by a solemn act of faith,
for the sin he has committed in priding himself on being
wise and discreet: he cries out, and with all the fervour
of faith: My Lord and my God ! Observe, he not only
says that Jesus is his Lord, his Master, the same who
chose him as one of his disciples: this would not have
been faith, for there is no faith where we can see and
touch. Had Thomas believed what his brother-Apostles
had told him, he would have had faith in the Resurrec-

LOW

SUNDAY:

MASS

305

tion; but now he sees, he has experimental knowledge

of the great fact; and yet, as our Lord says of him, he

has faith.

In what?

In this, that his Master is God.

fesses him

to be God.

From

He sees but the humanity of Jesus, and he at once con-

now generous
“ Thou art my
of faith! The
as an example
on this day is

what

is visible, his soul,

and repentant, rises to the invisible:
God !’ Now, O Thomas! thou art full
Church proposes thee to us, on thy feast,
of faith. The confession thou didst make
worthy to be compared with that which

Peter made, when

he said:

‘ Thou

art Christ,

the Son

of the living God I'* By this profession, which neither
flesh nor blood had revealed to him, Peter merited to
be made the rock whereon Christ built his Church:
thine did more than compensate thy former disbelief;

it gave thee, for the time, a superiority over the rest of

the Apostles, who, so far at least, were more taken up
with the visible glory, than with the invisible divinity,

of their risen Lord.
The Offertory gives us another text of the Gospel
relative to the Resurrection.
OFFERTORY
Angelus
Domini
descendit de ceelo, et dixit mulieribus: Quem
queritis, sur-

rexit sicut dixit.

Alleluia.

An angel of the Lord came
down from heaven, and said to
the women: He whom
ye seek

is risen, as he said, alleluia.

In the Secret, the Church expresses the holy enthu-

siasm wherewith the Paschal mystery fills her; she prays
that this joy may lead her to the never-ending one of the
eternal Easter.
SECRET

Suscipe munera, Domine,
uzsumus, exsultantis Ecclesiz: et cui causam tanti
audii prestitisti, perpetum
ctum _concede ~ Latitiz.
Per Dominum.

_ Receive, we beseech thee, O
Lord, the offerings of thy joyful Church: and as thou hast
given occasion to this great
joy, grant she may receive the
fraits of that joy which will
never end. Through, etc.

3 St Matt. xvi 16.

20

PASCHAL

306

TIME

While giving the Bread of heaven to her neophytes
and other children, the Church sings in her Communion
Antiphon the words spoken by Jesus to Thomas. This
Apostle was permitted to touch our Lord’s sacred
wounds; we, by the holy Eucharist, are brought into
still closer intimacy with this same Jesus: but that
we may derive the profit intended by such condescension,
we must have a faith lively and generous, like that
which he exacted from his Apostles.
COMMUNION

Put forth thy hand, and
cognosce loca_clavorum, al- mark the place of the nails,
leluia: et noli esse incredu- alleluia: and be not incredulus, sed fidelis. Alleluia, lous, but believe. ~ Alleluia, allealleluia.
luia,
Mitte

manum

tuam

et

The Church concludes the prayers of her Sacrifice
by asking that the divine mystery, instituted to be
a support to our weakness, may give us untiring perse-

verance.

POSTCOMMUNION

Quasumus, Domine Deus
noster:
ut
sacrosancta
mysteria, quaz pro reparationis
nostra munimine contulisti,
et prasens nobis remedium
essé facias et futurum. Per
Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O
Lord our God, that the sacred
mysteries thou hast given us
to preserve the grace of our
redemption may be our present
and future remedy. Through,
etc.

VESPERS
‘When the feast of the Annunciation is deferred till
after Easter, it is kept on the Monday following Low

Sunday: its First Vespers are now sung, and a commemoration

Office.

only is made

We

have

of the Sunday,

given

these

below,

at the end of the

p. 310.

Other

years, the Vespers are those of Paschal time, which will

be found at p. 81.

LOW
ANTIPHON

SUNDAY

307

OF THE MAGNIFICAT

ANT. Post dies octo, januis
clausis, ingressus Dominus,
dixit eis: Pax vobis. Alle:
luia, allelnia.

ANT. After eight days, the
doors being_shut, the Lord
entering, said: Peace be to
you. Alleluia, alleluia.

LET US PRAY.
OREMUS.
Grant, we beseech thee,
Prasta, quasumus, omnioteas Deus: ut qui pascha- O almighty God, that we who
ia festa peregimus: hac, have celebrated the Paschal
te largiente, moribus et vita solemnity may, by the assistance of thy divine grace, ever
teneamus. Per Dominum.
make the effects thereof manifest in_our lives and actions.
Through, etc.
As an appropriate prayer wherewith to close the day,

we offer to our readers the following beautiful one,
wherein the Gothic Church of Spain celebrates the
mystery of the eighth day—the Octave of Easter.
ngeniti _genitoris _genite
O Son begotten of the unbe-

Fili, qui in eo nobis diei
hujus _octavi renovas cultum, in quo te discipulornm
aspectibus hodie
prebuisti
palpandum. Nam licet hic
dies_sit prior pre cateris
conditus, octavus post septem efficitur revolutus, quo

ipse sicut admirabiliter e
sepulchro surrexisti a mortuis, ita ad discipulos inzstimabiliter
intrasti _januis
obseratis. Initium videlicet
Paschz ac finem exornans
congruis sacramentis, cum
et resurrectio tua custodibus terrorem
manifestatio
corda
dubia

incuteret, et
discipulorum
confortaret.

Quasumus ergo, ut nos_his
sacramentis imbutos fides
qua te credimus post istud
seculum tibi reprasentet illmsos. Nullum nobis de te
scrupulum ~ dubitationis er-

gotten Father | thou again invitest us to honour this eighth
day, on which thou didst permit thy disciples to see and
touch thee. The Sunday,
though made before the other
days, becomes the eighth by
following the seven preceding
it. It was on this day that thou
didst rise from the tomb and
death; it was on this same thou
enteredst where thy disciples
were assembled, and, the doors
being shut, didst honour them
by thine inestimable visit.
Thus didst thou adorn, with a
mystery well suited to each,
both the beginning and the
close of the Pasch; for thy Resurrection struck ~ terror _ into
the soldiers that guarded the
tomb, and thy apparition confirmed the doubting hearts of
thy disciples. We, therefore,
who possess the knowledge of

PASCHAL TIME

308

rorisque, aut otium pariat,
aut quasitio incauta enutriat. Serva in nomine tuo
quos redemisti
sanguine
pretioso.
Contemplandum
te nostris sensibus prabe:
nostrumque _ cor
dignatus
ingredere. Esto semper in
medio nostri qui_hodie pacem nuntians discipulorum
in medio astitisti. Quique
in eis insufflasti Spiritum
vit, nobis largire ejusdem
Spiritus consolationem.

all these mysteries, beseech
thee to grant that the faith
whereby we believe may present us before thee, after this
life, free from sin. May neither
sloth engender, nor _indiscreet
prying foster, any misgiving of
doubt or error concerning thee.
Preserve in thy holy name
them thou hast redesmed by
thy precious blood. Let our
souls contemplate thee, and
vouchsafe
to enter
into
our
hearts. O thou that on this
day didst appear in the midst
of thy disciples and greet
them with peace, abide ever
with

us.

Thou

didst

breathe

upon them the Spirit of life;
grant us the consolation of the
same Holy Spirit.
Once

more let us listen to the devout Adam of St
His sequences were great favourites with our

Victor.
Catholic forefathers of the Middle Ages. The triumph
of our Redeemer over death was a subject which this
great liturgical poet has often treated in a most masterly
way.
SEQUENCE

Mundi renovatio
Nova parit gaudia;
Resurgenti Domino
Conresurgunt omnia.
Elementa serviunt,
Et auctoris sentiunt
Quanta sit potentia.
Tgnis volat mobilis,
Et aer volubil

Alta petunt levia,

Centrum tenent gravia,
Renovantur

omni

Ceelum fit serenius,
Et mare tranquillius;
Spirat aura levius,
allis nostra floruit.

The
world's
_renovation
creates new joy. All creatures
rise together with their Lord,
The elements obey him, and
feel their Creator’s mighty
power.
Fire is impetuous in its
flight; air is_swift;
water is
flowing; earth is firm; light
things tend aloft, and those
that are heavy seek their
centre: but all are now renewed.
Heaven is more serene, the
sea more tranquil, the winds
breathe softer. Our valley is
illed with flowers; and now that

LOW

Revirescunt arida,
Recalescunt frigida,
Postquam ver intepuit.
Gelu mortis solvitur.
Princeps mundi tollitur,
Et ejus destruitur
In nobis imperium
Dum

tenere

voluit

In quo nihil habuit,
Jus amisit proprium.
Vita mortem superat;
Homo jam recuperat
Quod prius amiserat,
Paradisi gaudium:
Viam prabet facilem,
Cherubim versatilem
Amovendo gladium.
Christus ccelos reserat,
Et captivos liberat,
Quos culpa ligaverat
Sub mortis interitu.
Pro tanta victoria
Patri, Proli gloria
Sit cum Sancto Spiritu |
Amen.

SUNDAY

309

gentle spring is come, the dry
things have put on green again,
and the cold a genial warmth.
The frost of death is thawed.
The prince of this world is
made captive, and has no
longer power over us: by
striving to take him over
whom he had no claim, he lost
his own.
Life conquers death; man
now regains what he had
lost
— the joys of heaven;
the angel sheathes his twoedged sword, and leaves the
passage free.
Jesus opens heaven, and
liberates them whom sin had
made captives of death. For
this great victory, be glory to
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

PASCHAL

310

THE

TIME

ANNUNCIATION OF THE
EVER-BLESSED VIRGIN

T

very frequently happens that March 25 falls
between Palm Sunday and Low Sunday: on these
occasions, the feast of our Lady’s Annunciation, being
out of keeping both with the dolorous mysteries of
Holy Week and with the splendour of the Resurrection,

is deferred to the Monday following Low Sunday.
the convenience

For

of the faithful, we have here repeated

the Vespers and Mass of this great feast. As to the
instructions we gave upon the mystery of the Annunciation, our readers must refer to our volume

on Lent.

FIRST VESPERS

The Office of First Vespers is always the commencement of a feast. The Antiphons of the Vespers at
which we are going to assist are taken from the Gospel
of St Luke, where the Evangelist reveals to us the sublime

interview

between

the

angel

and

the

Virgin.

The

Psalms are those which tradition has consecrated to the
celebration of Mary’s glories. We have elsewhere’ shown

how each of the five refers to the Mother of God.

ANT. Missus est Gabriel
ANT. The angel Gabriel
angelus ad Mariam virginem was sent to Mary, a virgin
desponsatam Joseph, alleluia. espoused to Joseph, alleluia.
PSALM

Dixit Dominus Domino
meo: Sede
a dextris meis.
Donec ponam inimicos
tuos: scabellum pedum tuorum.
Virgam virtutis tuz emittet Dominus ex Sion: do-

109

_ The Lord said to my Lord,
his son : Sit thou at my right
hand, and reign with me.
Until on the day of thy last
coming, 1 make thy enemies
thy footstool.
O Christ/ the Lord thy
Father will send forth the

* See our volume for Advent,in the Vespers for December 8.

THE
minare
in medio
rum tuorum.

inimico-

Tecum principium in_die
virtutis tuz in splendoribus
sanctorum:
ex
utero
ante
Iuciferum genui te.
Juravit

Dominus,

et

311
sceptre of thy power out of
Sion: from thence rule thou
in the midst of thy enemies.
‘With thee is the principality
in the day of thy strength, in
the brightness of the saints:
For the Father hath said fo
thee : From the womb before
the day-star I begot thee.
The Lord hath sworn, and
he will not repent: he hath
said, speaking of thes, the GodMan : Thou art a priest for
ever, according to the order of
Melchisedech.
Therefore, O Father, the
Lord thy Som is at thy right
e hath broken kings
e day of his wrath.
He shall also judge among
nations: #n that terrible coming,
he shall fill the ruins of the
world: he shall crush the heads
in the land of many.
He_cometh now in_humility
He shall drink, in the way, o
the torrent of sufferings : therefore shall he lift up the head.
Ant. The angel Gabriel
Jas sent to Mary, a virgin
used to Joseph,
alleluia.
R
eyt
of
grace, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women, alleluia.

ANNUNCIATION

non

peenitebit eum: Tu es sacerdos in aternum secundum
ordinem Melchisedech.

Dominus_a dextris tuis:
confregit in die irz sua
Teges.
Judicabit in nationibus,
implebit _ruinas: conquassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet:
propterea exaltabit caput.
ANT. Missus est Gabriel
angelus ad Mariam virginem
desponsatam Joseph, alleluia.
ANT. Ave Maria, gratia
plena, Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus, alleluia.

PSALM 112

Laudate pueri Dominum:
Praise the Lord, ye children:
laudate nomen Domini.
praise ye the name of the Lord.
Sit nomen Domini benedicBlessed be the name of the
tum: ex hoc nunc et usque in Lord, from henceforth, now
seculum.
and for ever.
A solis ortu usque ad ocFrom the rising of the sun
casum: laudabile nomen Do- unto the going down of the

same, the name of the Lord is
worthy of praise.
Excelsus super omnes genThe Loid is high above all
tes Dominus: et super co- nations; and his glory above
los gloria ejus.
the heavens.

312

TIME

PASCHAL

Quis sicut Dominus Deus
noster qui in altis habitat:
et humilia respicit in ccelo
et in terra ?

Suscitans a terra inopem:
et de stercore erigens pauperem.
Ut collocet eum cum principibus: cum principibus populi sui.
Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo: matrem filiorum letantem.
ANT. Ave, Maria, gratia
plena, Dominus tecum: beDedicta tu in mulieribus, alleluia.
ANT. Ne timeas, Maria;
invenisti gratiam apud Dominum; ecce concipies, et
paries filium, alleluia.

Who is as the Lord our God,
who dwelleth on high: and
looketh down on the low things
in heaven and in earth, nay,
who cometh down amidst us >
Raising up the needy from
the carth, Lfting up the poor
out of the dunghill.
That he may place him with
princes: with the princes of
his peopl.
ho maketh a barren woman
to dwell in a house, the joyful
mother of children.
ANT. Hail, Mary, full of
grace, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women, alleluia.
ANT. Fear not, Mary; thou
hast found grace with God:
behold thou shalt conceive,
and shalt bring forth a son,
alleluia.

PSALM

Latatus sum in his qua
dicta sunt mihi: in domum
Domini ibimus.
Stantes erant pedes nostri: in atriis tuis Jerusalem.
Jerusalem qua mdificatur
ut civitas: cujus participatio
ejus in idipsum.
Tlluc enim _ ascenderunt
tribus, tribus Domini: testimonium Israel ad_confitendum nomini Domini.
Quia_illic sederunt sedes
in judicio: sedes super domum David.
Rogate que ad pacem
sunt Jerusalem: et abundantia diligentibus te.

I2T

I rejoiced at the things that
were said to me: We shall go
into the house of the Lord.
Our feet were standing in
thy courts, O Jerusalem | Our
heart loves and ‘confides in thee,
0 Mary.
Mayy is_like to Jerusalem,
that

is built

as

a

is compact together.

city;

which

For thither did the tribes go
up, the tribes of the Lord: the
testimony of Israel, to praise
the name of the Lord.
Because seats sat there in
judgement; seats upon the
ouse of David, and Mary is
of a kingly race.
Pray ye, through Mary, for
the things that are for the peace
of Jerusalem: and may abundance be
on them
that
love
thee, O Church of our God /

THE

ANNUNCIATION

Fiat pax in virtute tua:
et abundantia in turribus
tuis.
Propter

fratres

meos

et

proximos meos: loquebar
pacem de te.
Propter domum_ Domini
Dei nostri: quasivi bona
tibi.
ANT. Ne timeas, Maria:
invenisti gratiam apud Dominum; ecce concipies et
paries filium, alleluia.
ANT. Dabit ei Dominus
sedem David patris ejus, et
regnabit in mternum, alleluia.

313

The voice of Mary: Let
peace be in thy strength, O
thou new Sion | and abundance
in thy towers.
L a daugiter of Iorae, for
the ‘sake of my brethren and
of my neighbours, spoke peace
of thee.
Because of the house of the
Lord our God, I have sought
good things for thee.
ANt Fear not, Mary, for
thou hast found grace with
God: behold thou shalt conceive, and shalt bring forth a
son, Alleluia.
ANT. And the Lord shall
give unto him the throne of
David his father, and he shall
reign for ever, alleluia.

PSALM 126

Nisi Dominus dificaverit domum: in vanum laboraverunt qui zdificant eam.
Nisi Dominus custodierit
civitatem: frustra vigilat qui
custodit eam.
Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: surgite postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.
Cum dederit dilectis suis
somnum: ecce hreditas Domini
filii,
merces,
fructus
ventris.
Sicut sagittz in manu
potentis: ita fili excussoTum.
Beatus vir, qui implevit
desiderium stum ex _ipsis:
non confundetur cum' loquetur
inimicis suis in
porta.
Axt. Dabit ei Dominus
sedem David patris ejus, et
regnabit in @ternum, alleluia.

Unless the Lord build the

house, they labour in vain that
buildit.
Unless the Lord keep the
city, he watcheth in vain that
keepeth it.
Tt is vain for you to rise
before light; rise ye after you
have sitten, you that eat of
the bread of sorrow.
When he shall give sleep to
his beloved: behold the inherif
ance of the Lord are children;
the reward, the fruit of the
womb.
As arrows in the hand of
the mighty, so the children of
them that have been shaken.
Blessed is the man that hath
filled his desire with them;
he shall not be confounded
when he shall speak to his
enemies in the gate.
ANT, And the Lord shall
ive unto him the throne of
avid his father, and he shall
reign for ever, alleluia.

314

PASCHAL TIME

ANT. Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, alleluia.

ANT. Behold the handmaid
of the Lord: be it done to me
according to thy word, alleluia.

PSALM 147
Praise the Lord, O Mary,
Lauda, Jerusalem, Domithou
true Jerusalem: O Mary,
num: lauda Deum tuum,
O Sion ever holy, praise thy God.
Sion.
Quoniam confortavit seBecause he hath strengthras portarum tuarum: bene- ened against sin the bolts of
thy gates: he hath blessed thy
dixit filiis tuis in te.
children within thee.
Qui posuit fines tuos paWho hath placed peace in
cem: ‘et adipe frumenti thy borders, and filleth thee
satiat te.
with the fat of comn, with
Jesus, who is the Bread of life.
Who sendeth forth, by thee,
Qui_emittit eloquium suum terre: velociter currit his word to the earth: his
sermo ejus.
word runneth swiftly.
Qui dat nivem sicut lanam:
Who giveth snow like wool;
nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. scattereth mists like ashes.
Mittit crystallum _suam
He sendeth his crystal like
sicut _bucellas: ante_faciem morsels; who shall stand befrigoris ejus quis sustinebit ? fore the face of his cold ?
He shall send forth his word
Emittet verbum suum et
liquefaciet ea: flabit spiritus by Mary, and shall melt them:
ejus, et fluent aqua.
his Spirit shall breathe, and
the waters shall run.
Qui _annuntiat verbum
Who declareth_his word to
suum Jacob: justitias, et Jacob: his justices and his
judicia sua Israel.
Judgements to Israel.
Non fecit taliter omai
He hath not dome in like
nationi: et judicia sua non manner to every nation; and
manifestavit eis.
his judgements he hath not
made manifest to them.
ANT. Ecce ancilla Domini:
ANT.
Behold the handmaid
fiat mihi secundum verbum
of the Lord: be it done to me
tuum, alleluia.
according to thy word, alleluia.
CAPITULUM

(Zsa. vii)
Ecce virgo concipiet et
Behold a virgin shall conpariet filium, et vocabitur ceive, and bear a son, and his
nomen ejus Emmanuel. Bu- name shall be called Emmanuel.
tyrum et mel comedet, ut He shall eat butter and honey,
sciat reprobare malum, et that he may know to refuse the
evil, and to choose the good.
eligere bonum.

THE ANNUNCIATION

315

HYMN?

Hail, Star of the seal
Blessed Mother of God, yet
ever a virgin! O happy gate
of heaven |
Thou that didst receive the
Ave from Gabriel's lips, confirm us in peace, and so let
Eva be changed into an Ave
of blessing for us.
Loose the sinner's chains,
bring light to the blind, drive
from us our evils, and ask all
good things for us.
Monstra te esse matrem,
Show thyself 2 mother, and
Sumat per te preces,
offer our prayers to him, who
Qui pro nobis natus,
would be born of thee, when
Tulit esse tuus.
born for us.
Virgo singularis,
O incomparable Virgin, and
Inter omnes mitis,
meekest of the meek, obtain
Nos culpis solutos
us the forgiveness of our sins,
Mites fac et castos.
and make us meek and chaste.
Vitam prasta puram,
Obtain us purity of life, and
Iter para tutum;
a safe pilgrimage; that we
Ut videntes Jesum,
may be united with thee in
Semper collztemur.
the blissful vision of Jesus.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
Praise be to God the Father,
Summo Christo decus,
and to the Lord Jesus, and to
Spiritui Sancto,
the Holy Ghost: to the Three
Tribus honor unus.
one self-same praise.
Amen.
Amen.
Y. Ave Maria, gratia
¥. Hail Mary, full of grace,
plena, alleluia.
alleluia.
R.' Dominus tecum, alleRy. The Lord is with thee,
Iuia.
alleluia.
Ave, maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper virgo,
Felix ceeli porta.
Sumens illud Ave
Gabrielis ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Eva nomen.
Solve vincla reis,
Profer lumen ccis,
Mala nostra pelle,
Bona cuncta posce.

ANTIPHON

OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Spiritus Sanctus in_te
descendet, Maria, et virtus
Altissimi obumbrabit tibi,
alleluia.
OREMUS.
Deus, qui de beatz Mariz Virginis utero, Verbum
* In monastic churches it is

The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, O Mary, and the
power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee, alleluia.
LET US PRAY.

O God, who wast pleased
that thy Word, when the angel
Angelus

PASCHAL

316

tuum,
angelo
nuntiante,
carnem
suscipere voluisti:
prasta supplicibus_tuis, ut
qui verc eam Genitricem
Dei credimus, ejus apud te
intercessionibus adjuvemur.
Per eumdem.
Then

is made

on p. 307.

TIME

delivered his message, should
take flesh in the womb of the
blessed Virgin Mary, give ear

to our humble
grant

that

we

petitions, and

who

believe

her

to be truly the Mother of God,
may be helped by her prayers.
Through the same, etc.

a commemoration

of Low

Sunday,

as

MASS
The Church has taken most of the chants of to-day’s
Mass from the forty-fourth Psalm, wherein the royal
prophet celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation.
In
the Introit, she greets Mary as the Queen of the human

race, to whom every creature should pay respectful
homage.
It was her virginity that fitted Mary to
become the Mother of God. This virtue will be imitated
in the Church,

and each generation will produce thou-

sands of holy virgins, who will walk in the footsteps
of her that is their Mother and their model.
INTROIT

tuum
deprecabuntur omnes divites pl
: adducentur Regi virgines post eam: proxime ejus
adducentur tibi in letitia ot
exsultatione. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Eructavit cor meum
verbum bonum:
dico ego
opera mea Regi. ¥. Gloria
Patri.

Vultum tuum,

All the rich among the
people shall entreat thy countenance: after her shall virgins
be brought to the King: her
neighbours shall be brought
to thee in joy and gladness.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. My heart hath uttered
s;eak my works
:

Glory, etc.

In the Collect, the Church glories in her faith in the

divine maternity; she puts it forward as a claim to
Mary’s interceding for her with God, who is her Son.
This dogma of Mary'’s being the Mother of God is founded
on the mystery of the Incarnation, which is the basis of
our faith.

THE

ANNUNCIATION

317

COLLECT

Deus, qui de beatz Mariz
Virginis ~ utero,
Verbum
tuum,
angelo
nuntiante,
carnem suscipere voluisti:
prasta supplicibus_tuis: ut
qui
vere
eam
Genitricem
Dei credimus, ejus apud te
intercessionibus ~ adjuvemur.
Per cumdem.
Lectio Isaiz Prophete.

O God, who wast pleased
that thy Word, when the angel
delivered his message, should
take flesh in the womb of the
blessed Virgin Mary, give car
to our humble petitions, and
grant that we who believe her
to be truly the Mother of God,
may be helped by her prayers.
Through the same, etc.

EPISTLE

Cap. VII.
In_diebus illis: Locutus
est Dominus ad Achaz dicens: Pete tibi signum a
Domino Deo tuo, in profundum inferni sive in excelsum supra. Et dixit Achaz:
Non petam, et non tentabo

Dominum. Et dixit: Audite
orgo domus David: Numquid parum vobis est, molestos esse hominibus, quia
molesti estis et Deo meo ?
Propter hoc dabit Dominus
ipse vobis signum. Ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet filium: et vocabitur nomen
ejus Emmanuel. Butyrum
et mel
comedet,
ut
sciat
reprobare malum’ et eligere
bonum.

Lesson from Isaias the
Prophet.
Ch. VII.
In those days: The Lord
spoke unto Achaz, saying: Ask
thee a sign of the Lord thy
God, either unto the depth of
hell, or unto the height above.
And Achaz said: T will not ask,
and I will not tempt the Lord .
And he (Isaias) said: Hear ye,
therefore, O house of David:
Is it a small thing for you to
be grievous to men, that you
are grievous to my God, also ?
Therefore the Lord _himself
shall give you a sign. Behold a
virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and his name shall be
called Emmanuel. He shall eat
butter and honey, that he may
know to refuse the evil, and
to choose the good.

The prophet is speaking to a wicked king, who refused to accept a miraculous proof of God’s merciful

protection over Jerusalem; and he makes this an oppor-

tunity for announcing to Juda the great portent which
we are celebrating

bear a son.
prophecy ?

to-day:

A

wvirgin shall conceive and

And when was it that God fulfilled the
It was in an age when mankind seemed

PASCHAL

318

TIME

to have reached the highest pitch of wickedness, and
when idolatry and immorality reigned throughout the
‘The fulness of time came,’ and the
whole world.
tradition, which had found its way into every country,
that a virgin should bring forth a son, was exciting
much interest. To-day we are celebrating the sublime

mystery;

let us adore the power of God, and the fidelity

wherewith he fulfils his promises. The author of the laws
of nature suspends them; he acts independently of them:
virginity and maternity are united in one and the same
creature, for the Child that is to be born is God.

A virgin

could not bring forth other than God himself: the Son of
Mary is, therefore, called Emmanuel, that is, God with us.
Let us adore this God, the Creator of all things visible

and invisible, who thus humbles himself.

Henceforth,

he will have every tongue confess, not only his divinity,

but

also his human

nature, which

he has

assumed

in

order that he might redeem us. From this day forward,
he is truly the Son of Man. He will remain nine months

Like them,
in his Mother’s womb, as other children.
He
he will, after his birth, be fed on milk and honey.
will sanctify all stages of human life, from infancy to
perfect manhood, for he is the New Man, who has come

down from heaven that he might restore the old.

With-

out losing aught of his divinity, he shares in our weak
finite being, that he may make us ‘ partakers of the
divine nature.”
The first Alleluia Versicle repeats the angel’s saluLet us, with Gabriel, bow down before
tation to Mary.
this holy Virgin, the masterpiece of nature and grace,
predestined from all eternity to be the Mother of God.

Alleluia, alleluia.
Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum: benedicta
tu in mulieribus.

Alleluia, alleluia,
_ Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee: blessed
art thou among women.

The second Versicle celebrates in sublime and enthusiastic words, the effects of the divine mystery of the
2 StPet.ise

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ANNUNCIATION

319

Incarnation—peace between God and man re-established
in the virginal womb of Mary, wherein the divine and
human nature are united in the Person of the Child,
whom she conceives the very instant she consents to
the will of the Most High.

Alleluia.
Virga Jesse floruit: Virgo
Deum et hominem genuit;
pacem Deus reddidit, in se
reconcilians ima summis, alleluia.

of Jesse hath
brought forth its flower; a virgin
hath conceived him who is God
and man; God hath restored
peace, by bniting in himself the
owest with the highest, alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Lucam.
Cap. I.
In illo tempore: Missus
est angelus Gabriel a Deo in
civitatem Galilzz, cui_ nomen Nazareth, ad virginem
desponsatam viro cui nomen_erat Joseph, de domo
David: et nomen virginis
Maria. Et ingressus angelus
ad eam, dixit: Ave, gratia
plena; Dominus tecum: benedicta
tu
in
mulieribus.
Quz cum audisset, turbata
&t in sermone ejus: ot cogitabat qualis esset ista salutatio. Et ait
Ne
timeas,
Mari;
i
enim gratiam apud Deum.
Ecce concipies in utero, et
paries filium: et vocabis
nomen ejus Jesum. Hic erit
magnus: et Filius_Altissimi
vocabitur. Et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David
patris ejus: et regnabit in
domo Jacob in zternum;
et regni ejus mon erit finis.
Dixit autem Maria ad_ange.
lum: Quomodo fiet istud ?

Sequel

of the holy Gospel
according to Luke.
Ch.

I.

At that time: The angel
Gabriel was sent from God into
a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a
man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David; and the
virgin's name was Mary. And
the angel being come in, said
unto her: Hail, Mary, full of
grace, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women.
Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought
with herself what manner of
salutation this should be. And
the angel said to her: Fear not,
Mary, for thou hast found grace
with God. Behold thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and shalt
bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall
be great, and shall be called the
Son of the Most High, and the
Lord God shall give unto him
the throne of David his father:
and he shall reign in the house
of Jacob for ever, and of his
kingdom there shail be no end.

320
PASCHAL TIME
quoniam virum non cogno- And Mary said to the angel:
sco. Et respondens ange- How shall this be done, because
lus,
dixit ei: Spiritus T know not man ?_ And the anSanctus superveniet in_te; gel answering, said to her: The
et virtus Altissimi obumbra- Holy Ghost shall come upon
bit tibi. Ideoque et quod thee, and the power of the Most
nascetur ex te sanctum, voHigh shall overshadow thee.
cabitur Filius Dei. Et ecce And_therefore also the Holy
Elisabeth cognata tua: et which shall be born of thee
ipsa concepit fillium in se- shall be called the Son of God.
nectute sua. Et hic mensis And behold, thy cousin Elizasextus est illi, que vocatur beth, she also hath conceived a
sterilis; quia_non erit im- son in her old age; and this is
possibile apud Deum omne the sixth month with her that
verbum. Dixit autem Ma- is called barren: because no
ria: Ecce ancilla Domini: word shall be impossible with
fiat mihi secundum verbum God. And Mary said: Behold
tuum,
the handmaid of the Lord; be it
done tome according to thy word.
By these last words of thine, O Mary ! our happiness

is secured.

Thou consentest to the desire of heaven,

and thy consent brings us our Saviour. O Virgin-Mother!
Blessed among women | we unite our thanks with the
homage that is paid thee by the angels. By thee is
our

ruin repaired;

in thee is our nature

restored;

thou hast wrought the victory of man over Satan!
Bernard,

in one

of his

homilies

on

this

Gospel,

for

St

thus

speaks: ‘ Rejoice, O thou our father Adam ! but thou,
O mother Eve, still more rejoice ! You were our parents,
but you were also our destroyers; and what is worse,

you had wrought our destruction before you gave us
birth. Both of you must be consoled in such a daughter
as this: but thou, O Eve, who wast the first cause of our

misfortune,

and whose humiliation has descended upon

all women, thou hast a special reason to rejoice in Mary.
For the time is now come when the humiliation is taken

away, neither can man any longer complain against the
woman, as of old, when he foolishly sought to excuse

himself, and cruelly put all the blame on her, saying:
““The woman whom thou gavest me, gave me of the
tree, and I did eat.” Go, Eve, to Mary; go, mother, to

thy daughter; let thy daughter take thy part, and free

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ANNUNCIATION

321

thee from thy disgrace, and reconcile thee to her father:
for if man

woman.
‘ What
whom

eat ?”

fell by

a woman,

is this thou

he

is raised

sayest, Adam?

up

by

a

“ The woman

thou gavest me, gave me of the tree, and

I did

These are wicked words; far from effacing thy

fault, they aggravate it.

But divine Wisdom conquered

thy wickedness, by finding in the treasury of his own

inexhaustible mercy a motive for pardon, which he had
in vain sought to elicit by questioning thee. In place
of the woman of whom thou complainest, he gives thee
another: Eve was foolish, Mary is wise; Eve was proud,
Mary is humble; Eve gave thee of the tree of death,
Mary will give thee of the tree of life; Eve offered thee

a bitter and poisoned fruit, Mary will give thee the

sweet fruit she herself is to bring forth, the

fruit of

everlasting life. Change, then, thy wicked excuse into
an act of thanksgiving, and say: *‘ The womar, whom
thou hast given me, O Lord, hath given me of the tree

of life, and I have eaten thereof; and it is sweeter than
{ll?ney to my mouth, for by it thou hast given me
ife.”” "t

In the Offertory, the Church addresses Mary in the
words spoken to her by the archangel, to which she

also adds

those used

by Elizabeth,

the Mother of her God.

when

she saluted

OFFERTORY

Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum: benedicta
tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
alleluia.

Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee: blessed
art thou among women, and
blessed is the fruit of thy
womb, alleluia.

In the Secret, the Church renews her profession of
faith in the mystery of the Incarnation; she confesses
the reality

of the two

natures,

divine

and

Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Mary.

* St Bernard, Homil. ii super Missus est.

human, in

21

322

PASCHAL

TIME

SECRET

In mentibus nostris, quasumus, Domine, vera fidei
sacramenta confirma:
ut,
ui conceptum de virgine
eum verum et hominem
confitemur, per ejus salutiferw
resurrectionis potentiam, ad zternam mereamur
pervenire latitiam. Per
eumdem.

Strengthen, we beseech thee,
0 Lord, in our soul, the mysteries of the true faith: that
we who confess him that was
conceived of a virgin to be
true God and true Man, may,
power of his saving
by the
Resurrection, deserve to_come
to eternal joys. Through the
same,

etc.

The greatness of the solemnity obliges the Church

to substitute for the Paschal
uses on our Lady’s feasts.

Preface,

the

one

she

PREFACE

Vere dignum et justum
It is truly meet and just,
est, ®quum et salutare, nos right and available to salvatibi semper et ubique gra- tion, that we should always
tias agere: Domine sancte, and in all places give thanks
Pater omnipotens, terne to thee, O holy Lord, Father
Deus: Et te in Annuntia- almighty, eternal God: and
tione beate Mariz semper that we should praise, bless,
virginis _ collandare, bene- and glorify thee, on the An:
dicere, et pradicare. Qua nunciation of the blessed
nigenitum tuum Sancti Mary, ever a virgin, who by
the overshadowing of the Holy
Spis tus obumbratione concepit, et virginitatis gloria Ghost, conceived thy only-bepermanente, lumen ter- gotten Son, and the glory of
num mundo_effudit, Jesum her virginity still remaining,
Christum_
Dominum ~ no- brought forth to the world the
strum.
Per quem majestaeternal Light, Jesus Christ our
tem tuam laudant angeli, Lord. By whom the angels
adorant _dominationes, tre- praise thy majesty, the domimunt potestates. Caeli cce- nations adore it, the powers
lorumque virtutes, ac beata tremble before it; the heavens
seraphim, socia_exsultatione and the heavenly virtues, and
concelebrant. Cum quibus the blessed seraphim, with
et nostras voces ut admitti common jubilee glorify it.
jubeas deprecamur, supplici Together with whom we beconfessione dicentes:
~San- seech thee that we may be admitted to join our humble
ctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
voices saying: Holy ! Holy !
Holy !

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ANNUNCIATION

323

The Communion Anthem repeats the prophetic words
It is a virgin that has conceived and
of the Epistle.
brought forth him who, being God and man, is also the
hvmg Bread that came down from heaven, whereby
God is with us, and in us.
COMMUNION

Behold a virgin shall conceive_and bring forth a son,
and his name shall be called
Emmanuel, alleluia.

Ecce virgo concipiet, et
pariet filium: et vocabitur
nomen ejus Emmanuel, allelnia.

In the Postcommunion the Church gratefully recalls
to mind all the mysteries which God has achieved for
our salvation,

one

of to-day.

and which

After

were the consequences of the

the

Incarnation,

the Son of God to our human

which

unites

nature, we have had the

Passion of this our divine Redeemer; and his Passion
was followed by his Resurrection, whereby he triumphed
over our enemy, death.

POSTCOMMUNION

Gratiam tuam, quasumus
Pour forth, we beseech thee,
O
Domine, mentibus nostris
Lord, thy grace into our
infunde:
ut, qui_
angelo hearts; that we, to whom the
nuntiante, Christi Filii tui Incarnation of Christ thy Son
incarnationem
cognovimus; was made known by the mesper Passionem ejus et Cru’ sage of an angel, may, by his
cem, ad Resurrectionis glo- Passion and Cross, be brought
riam perducamur. Per eum- to the glory of his Resurrecdem.
tion. Through the same, etc.
SECOND
The Antiphons, Psalms,

VESPERS
Hymn,

and Versicle are the

same as in the First Vespers, pp. 310-315.
The Magnificat Antiphon is aloné changed, and is as
follows:

324

PASCHAL
ANTIPHON

TIME

OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Gabriel angelus locutus
The angel Gabriel spoke
est Mariz dicens: Ave gra- unto Mary, saying: Hail, full
tia plena, Dominus tecum; of grace, the Lord is with thee:
benedicta tu in mulieribus, blessed art thou among women,
alleluia.
alleluia.
OREMUS.
LET US PRAY.
Deus qui de beate Mariz
0 God, who wast pleased that
Virginis ~ utero,
Verbum thy Word, when the angel
tuum,
angelo
nuntiante, delivered his message, should
carnem suscipere voluisti: take flesh in the womb of the
preesta supplicibus_tuis: ut blessed Virgin Mary, give ear
ui vere eam Genitricem to our humble pefitions, and
ei credimus, ejus apud te grant, that we who believe her
intercessionibus ~ adjuvemur. to be truly the Mother of
Per eumdem.
God, may be helped by her
prayers. Through the same, etc.

END

OF THE FIRST VOLUME

OF PASCHAL TIME